LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Chap. Copyright No.. 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




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Scxibenbi recte sapere est ct pnncipmm et tons. 



The Composer's Friend 

AND 

COMPENDIUM 

OF USEFUL INFORMATION, 

BY 

JNO. T. C. NEWSOM, 

AUTHOR OF 

" Lost by Love; or, The Folly of Flirting," " The Secrets of Success; 
or, Getting on in the World," and (in preparation) 
" Defense of the Poor." 



YORK, PA., 




.tff 



Copyright, 1896, 
ByJNO. T. C. NEWSOM. 



Agents wanted in all parts of the country; 
liberal commission allowed. 

Copies of this book may be had on receipt of 
price, plus postage or express. 

Cloth, $1.00 : Prick : Paper, 50 cts. 
Address, 

JNO. T. C. NEWSOM, 

509 Stanton Place, N. E., 

Washington, D. C. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



The object of this preparation is to aid literary 
people — writers, students, public speakers, and others 
in giving force to what they wish to say, by present- 
ing to them features never before offered, and in a 
condensed and comprehensive manner entirely new 
and original. Brevity has been the rule throughout 
the work, believing that the thoroughly busy man or 
woman of the age will be more interested in general 
facts than in particulars. 

It is not intended, nor expected, that this prepar- 
ation will give thought to any one; but to those who,, 
having found a subject to discourse upon, wish to give 
it pith and point, the author believes that the lists 
of Proverbs, Quotations, Similean and Metaphorical 
phrases, Americanisms, etc., will be of incalculable 
assistance. 

The other characteristics of the work, embracing 
First Things, Things in the Superlative Degree, 
Things Not Generally Known, etc., etc., are also fea- 
tures of rare merit, and will at once be of positive 
value. 

The author does not claim completeness for his 
effort: this is especially true as regards the collectanea 
in prose and verse, and the information found in Sec- 
tion IV ; but he does claim correctness as far as it 
goes. 

Thk Author. 



RULE FOR CAPITALS. 



1 . Every entire sentence should begin with a capi- 

tal. 

2. Proper names and adjectives derived from them 

should begin with capitals. 

3. All apellations of the Deity should begin with 

capitals. 

4. Official and honorary titles begin with capitals. 

5. Every line of poetry should begin with a capital. 

6. Titles of books, and the heads of their chapters 

and divisions are printed in capitals. 

7. The pronoun I and the interjection O are always 

capitals. 

8. The days of the week and the months of the year 

begin with capitals. 

9. Every direct quotation should begin with a capi- 

tal letter. 

10. Names of religious denominations begin with 

capitals. 

11. In the preparation of accounts, each item should 

begin with a capital. 

12. Any word of very special importance may begin 

with a capital. 



DEFINITIONS. 

1 . Figures of Speech are modes of expression differ- 

ent from those of the ordinary, for the pur- 
pose of adding beauty and strength to a sen- 
tence. The principal figures of speech are the 
Simile, Metaphor, Metonymy and Synecdoche. 
The Period also gives strength to an expres- 
sion. 

2. The Simile expresses a likeness or comparison 

between one thing and another; as, — 
He is like a lion in the fight. 

3. The Metaphor is a method of expression in which 

one person or thing is spoken of as if it were 
another, and no comparison or similarity is 
expressed; as, — 

He is a lion in the fight. 

Consistency \ thou art a jewel. 

4. Metonymy is the use of the name of one object to 

represent some related object; as, — 
The bottle has caused the death of many a man, 
(meaning the thing contained in the bot- 
tle, etc.) 

5 . The Synecdoche is the figure of speech by which a 

part is put for the whole, and vice versa; as, — 
Give us this day our daily bread. 

6. The Period is a sentence in which, by the use of 

an inverted order of words, the complete sense 
is suspended until the close; as, — 

■ 



vi. DEFINITIONS. 

From hill- top and valley, from forest and glen, 
they came with a maddeniiig roar. 

7 . The loose sentence is one whose predicate is followed 

by phrases and clauses that are not necessary 
to the completeness of the sense. It is con- 
trasted with the Period. 

8. The Hyperbole consists in exaggerating the literal 

truth in order that a statement may appear 
more emphatic; as, — 

There were rivers of blood, a?id hills of slain. 

9. Irony expresses the opposite of what is meant, 

there being something in the tone or manner 
of the speaker to indicate his real drift; as, — 

" But, Brutus is an ho?iorable man." 
[In writing, the word expressing the irony is 
usually followed by (?).] 
10. The Epigram is a short, pointed, witty saying, 
the true meaning of which is different from 
that which appears on the surface. The force 
of the Epigram lies in the pleasant surprise 
attendant upon the perception of the real 
meaning, which is always different from that 
expressed; as, — 

It is better to ha?ig together than ha?ig separately. 
SUGGESTIONS. 
Simplicity.— Be simple in the use of words. Remember 
that large words will not increase the size of small 
thoughts. 

Brevity.— Be as brief as is consistent with the sense. In 
other words, " put the maximum of thought in the 
minimum of words." 



CONTENTS. 



SECTION I. 



Page. 



Quotations in Prose and Verse, 



9 



SECTION II. 



Proverbs, Maxims, etc., - 

SECTION III. 
Americanisms, Briticisms, etc, 

SECTION IV. 
Things Not Generally Known, - 



- 214-282 



- 160 



143 



Andersonville Prison, Andrew Johnson, Antidotes for 
Poisons, 214; Arbor Day, Augustan Age, Bacon's 
Rebellion, Baldness, 215; Bats, Battle of the Spurs, 
Bible, Black Hole of Calcutta, 216; Blue Book, Blue 
Laws of Connecticut, Bogus, Boston Massacre, Boy- 
cotting, Bram, 217; Bridge of Sighs, Brokers' Techni- 
calities, Barking, 218; Cannon Balls, Capital at Wash- 
ington, Center of Population, Chinese Wall, Christmas 
Tree, 219; Cities, (Nicknames of) 220; Cleaiing 
House, Clock, Coinage, 221; Copper Cent, Count 
Pulaski, Cremation, 222; Dark Ages, Darwinian The- 
ory, Dead Horse, 223; Dead Sea of America, 225; 
Dew, 226; Distinguished Americans, 226-228; Dog 
Days, Domesday Book, 228; Dred Scot Decision, 
Drowned Body Earthworm, Earwig, Easter, Eel, 
Envelopes, 229; Field of the Cloth of Gold, 230; First 
Things, 230-235; Flag Day. 235; Food Flesh of Ani- 
mals, Forest Laws, Four Stomachs, France, Freezing 
and Boiling, Ground Hog Day, Grrups, 236; Gun- 
powder Plot, Hackensack, Hairs on Head, 2;. 7; 
Hen-y Clay, Holland, Horse of Mary Price, 238; 
Household Hints, 238-24*; Human Heart, Humming 
of Wire?, Ice, (Strength of) 241; John O'Groat's 
House, Keystone State, Knot in a Bone, Labor Day, 
Large Families, 242; Longevity of Animals, Mason 
and Dixon's Line, Mecklenburg Declaration, Milan 
Decree, 243; Mississippi River, Missouri Compromise* 



viii. 



CONTENTS. 



Monroe Doctrine, 244; Nations of the World, 245; 
" News," 246; Newspapers (Daily), Noah's Tomb, 247; 
Nom de Plumes^ 247-250; "O.K.," Ordeal, Pension 
Office, 250; Polyglot Petition, Quails, 251; Queen 
Elizabeth, Queen Victoria, Quito, " R, " Ratio of Let- 
ters, Red Cross Society, 252; Reformation, Robbing 
Peter to Pay Paul, 253; Rubber Boots, Rule of the 
Road, 254; Rules for Interest, 255; Sailing from Amer- 
ica to Europe, Sam Houston Seven Hills of Rome, 
Seven Wise Men, Seven Wonders of the World, 
Shooting Stars, 256; Siberia, Spectacles, Sponge, 
Squirrel, Stamp Act, 257; States, (Derivation of 
Names of) 257-260; States, (Mottoes of) 260-263; 
States, (Nicknames of) 263-264; St. Peter's 264; 
Superlative Degree, 265-278; Telegrams, Tennessee, 
(Constitution of), Thanksgiving, Trade, Trees, 278; 
Two Ejes of History, Tints by Mixing, Vatican, 
Venice, Vermont, Vetoes, Wall Street, 279; War of 
theRoses, Washington, (George • , Weasel, Wedding 
Anniversaries, Wells, 280; West Point, Whiskey Insur- 
rection, Wild Cat Monev, Worm Farm, 281; Wrig- 
gler in Water, "Y" River, Young of Birds and 
Animals, 282. 

SECTION V. 



Poems by the Author, ----- 283-305 

A December Gale, - 301 

A Picture, - - - - - - 293 

Baby Bye, (A Lullaby) - - - - - 292 

Christmas, - - - - - - 284 

Christmas Bells, - - - - - - 291 

Dedicatory, ------ 288 

Dennis and Snow, - 285 

Fragments, ------ 297 

"He is Dead," - - - - - - 295 

Ode to a Dead Horse, .... 297 

Ode to the Washington Monument, - - - 29$. 

Reveries of Childhood, ... - 302 
Signs of a Rainstorm, ----- 283 

Song of the New Woman, - - .. - - 299 

Thank God for Winter, - - - - - 290 

The Secret, ------ 300 

Unrequited Loye, ----- 287 



SECTION I. 



Choicest ZhouQhts from Choicest Butbors. 

How proud we .are when we know that our opinions are 
jj^t Joftified by the- logic and learning of great and emi- 
nent men. — -John Mercer Langston. 



Abandonment.— The more man sees himself forsaken by 
the universe, the greater the opportunity to vin- 
dicate his own greatness. — Richard Le Gallienne. 

Ability.— The winds and waves are always on the side 
of the ablest navigators. — Edward Gibbon. 
Man's best powers point him heavenward. 

— Spurgeon. 
Ability and necessity dwell near each other. 

— Pythagoras. 
Launch not beyond your depth, but be discreet, 
And mark that point where sense and dullness meet. 

— Pope. 

Absence.—" Gifts and gold are naught to me; 
I would only look on thee." 

Abuse.^-Nothing is so easy and inviting as the retort of 
abuse and sarcasm ; but it is a paltry and un- 
profitable contest. — Washington Irving. 

Abuse is the coward's weapon, which brave 
men scorn to use. 



JO 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Acki owledgmenf.--A man should never be ashamed to own 
that he has been in the wrong, which is but say- 
ing, in other words, that he is wiser to day than 
he was yesterday. — Fope. 
Acquaintance.— " There are some persons whom not to 

know argues one's self unknown." 
Action.— Some place the bliss in action, not in ease, 
Those call it pleasure, contentment these. 

— Pope. 

I am looking with almost an eager interest into 
the " undiscovered country," and leaving this 
earth with no regret except that I have not ac- 
complished more work. — Helen Hunt Jackson. 
Most strength the moving principle requires: 
Active its task, it prompts, impels, inspires. 

—Pope. 

Let us beware that our rest becomes not the 
rest of stones. — John R?iskin. 

Men must know that in this theatre of man's 
life it remaineth only to God and angels to be 
lookers-on. — Bacon. 

Too much rest is rust, 
There's ever cheer in changing. — Scott. 
It is not the men of thought, but the men of 
action, who are best fitted to push their way to 
wealth and honor. — Mathews. 

Let every man be occupied in the highest em- 
ployment of which his nature is capable, and die 
with the consciousness that he has done his best. 

— Sdyney Smith. 



the composer's friend. ii 

No endeavor is in -rain, 

The reward is in the doing, 
And the rapture of pursuing 

Is the prize the vanquished gain. 

— Longfellow . 

" It is better to wear out than to rust out." 

Adaptability.— No man ever made an ill figure who un- 
derstood his own talents, nor a good one, who 
mistook them. — Swift. 

Every man has in himself a continent of undis- 
covered character. Happy is he who acts the 
Columbus to his own soul. — Anon. 

'Tis heaven each passion sends, 
And different men direct to different ends. 

—Pope. 

The battle of life is constantly presenting new 
phases, and he only can expect to be victorious 
who is ready to show a new front as often as the 
situation shows a new peril. — Mathews. 
To know 

That which before us lies in daily life 
Is the prime wisdom. — Milton. 

Every one has something in his soul, 

And each man is a book that God himself has written. 

— Victor Hugo. 

" Old men for counsel, young men for war." 

Tompkins forsakes his last and awl, 

For literary squabbles; 
Styles himself poet; but his trade 

Remains the same, — he cobbles. — Lessing. 



12 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



What the child admired, 

The youth endeavored, and the man acquired. 

„ — Dry den. 

Be what nature intended you for, and you will 
succeed ; be anything else, and you will be ten 
thousand times worse than nothing. 

— Sydney Smith. 
To no other cause, perhaps, is failure in life so 
frequently to be traced as to a mistaken calling. 
(See Fitness.) — Mathews. 

Advantage.— We should turn our every amusement to 
our eternal advantage. — Addison, 

It is the misfortune of many young persons to- 
day that they begin life with too many advan- 
tages. — Ma the ws. 
Adversity.— The gem cannot be polished without fric- 

ttdn, nor man peffected without adversity. 
Advice.— The way of a fool is right in his own eyes; but 
he that hearkeneth unto council is wise. 

—The Bible. 

There is nothing of which we are more liberal 
than good advice, be our stock of it ever so 
small. — Young. 
Affection.— 

Talk not of wasted affection, — affection never was 
wasted; 

If it enrich not the heart of another, its waters 
returning 

Back to their springs like the rain, shall fill them 
full of refreshment. — Longfellow. 

■ 



the; composer's friend. 



Afflictions;— These severe afflictions 

Not from the ground arise, 
But oftentimes celestial benedictions 
Assume this dark disguise. 

What seem to us but sad funeral tapers 
May be heaven's distant lamps. — Longfellow. 

Age.— How oft by these at sixty are undone 

The virtues of a saint of twenty-one. — Pope. 

A path, thick set with changes and decays, 
Slopes downward to the place of common sleep. 
# <* * # * * * 
Oh! age is drear and death is cold. — Bryant. 

Childhood is the bough where slumbered 
Birds and blossoms many numbered; — 
Age, that bough with snows encumbered. 

— Longfellow. 

" And then, should no dishonor lie 
Upon my head, when I am gray, 
Love yet shall watch my fading eye, 
And smooth the path of my decay." 
(See Childhood.) 

Agreement.— The universal cause 

Acts to one end, but acts by various laws. 

^ >fc 

Know, Nature's children all divide her care; 
The fur that warms a monarch, warmed a bear. 

—Pope. 

Aggressiveness.— A politician weakly and amiably in the 
right, is no match for a politician tenaciously and 
pugnaciously in the wrong. — E. P. Whipple. 



14 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Africuttwe.- Happy the man who tills the field, 
Content with rustic labor; 
Earth doth to him her fullness yield, 
Hap what may to his neighbor. 
Well days, sound nights — oh! can there be 
A 4ife more rational and free ?■ — Stoddard. 
(See Farming. ) 

Aim.—" Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, 
but in rising every time we fall." 

" Soar not too high to fall, but stoop to rise." 
It is the iron rule in our day to require an ob- 
ject and a purpose in life. — Nathaniel Hawthorne. 
Not failure, but low aim is crime. 

— James Russell Lowell. 
Who aimeth at the sky shoots higher much 
than he who means a tree. — Herbert. 
Ambition.— 

Large desires with most uncertain issues, 
Tender wishes, blossoming at night. 

— Longfellow. 

Truth be your guide; disdain ambition's call; 
And if you mil with truth, you greatly fall. 

# % * * * * 

The same ambition can destroy or save, 
And make a patriot as it makes a knave. 

—Pope. 

Pitch thy behavior low, thy projects high, 
So shalt thou humble and magnanimous be. 

Sink not in spirit; who aimeth at the sky 

Shopts higher muclr than he who means a tree. 

—Geo. Herbert, 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



15 



Americanisms, Etc^-To knock into a cocked hat ; to 
knodk the socks ©ff of one ; to throw up the 
sponge. 
(See Subjection.) 
American Flag, The— I have seen the beauties of architect- 
ure and of art, and of mountain and valley ; I 
have seen the sun set at Jungfrau, and the full 
moon rise over Mont Blanc, but the most beauti- 
ful sight that my eyes ever beheld was trie Amer- 
ican flag floating in a foreign land. 

— Senator Geo. F. Hoar. 
Amiability— That you may be loved, be amiable. — Ovid. 
Amusement.— " Amusement is the safety valve of a busy 
man's life." 
And the night shall be filled with music, 

And the cares that infest the day 
Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs, 
And as silently steal away. — Longfellow. 
Anger.— Fear not the anger of the wise to raise; 

Those best can bear reproof who merit praise. 

—Pope. 

To be wroth with one we love doth work like 
madness on the brain. — Coleridge. 
He cried, he roared, he stormed, he tore his hair; 
" Death! hell! and furies! what dost thou do there! " 
(The blind knight in " January and May," 
when, on suddenly recovering his sight, he dis- 
covered his young wife in a compromising posi- 
tion in the pear tree with Damian, her lover.) 

—Pope. 



t6 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND.; 



Antiquity.— Distance lends enchantment to the view. 

— Campbell. 

Say not thou what is the cause that the former 
times were better than these; for thou dost not 
enquire wisely concerning this. — The Bible. 
Anxiaty.-^Anxiety and overwork produce irritability. 

— Lason. 

Anxiety is the poison of life ; the parent of 
many sins and of more miseries. — Blair. 
Appearance.— We look upon pur splendor and forget the 
a thirst of which we perish. — Nathaniel P. Willis. 

< And things are not what they seem. 

— Longfellow . 

The outward forms the inner man reveal, 
We guess the pulp before we eat the peel. 

—Pope. 

We ken the kernel by the shell. 

— Alice W. Brotherton. 

What I am I must not show- 

What I am thou couldst not know. — Scott. 

He did not so much defy appearances as rest 
ignorant of their power. (Said of Lord Shaftes- 
b u ry .) — -Barncr.oft. 

How little do they see what is,' who frame their 
hasty judgment on what seems".— Southey. 
' Nature has written a letter of credit upon some 
men's faces which is honored almost wherever 
presented. — Thackeray. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



17 



Say not my art : s fraud — all live by seeming. 

The beggar begs with it, and the gay courtier 
Gains lands and title, rank and rule, by seeming; 

The clergy scorn it not, and the bold soldier 
Will eke with it his service. — All admit it; 
All pactice it; and he who is content 
With showing what he is 
Shall have small credit 
In church, or camp, or state. — So wags the world. 

Scott. 

Art.— Art is the application of knowledge to a practical 

end. — Sir John HerscheL 
Aspiration— Large desires, with most uncertain issues, 

tender wishes, blossoming at night. — Longfellow. 

Pitch thy behavior low, thy projects high, 
So shalt thou humble and magnanimous be. 

Sink not in spirit: who aimeth at the sky 

Shoots higher much that he that means a tree. 

— Herbett. 

Association.— Evil communications corrupt good man- 
ners. — The Bible. 
Attraction.— 

Vows with so much passion, swears with so much 
grace, 

That 'tis a kind of heaven to be deluded by him. 

— Lee. 

Authority. — 

Man, proud man, 
Drest in a little brief authority 
Most ignorant of wliat he's most assured, 
His glossy essence, like an angry ape, 
Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven, 
As make the angels weep. — Shakespeare. 



i8 The composer's friend. 

Authors.— Authors are partial to their wit, 'tis true, 
But are not critics to their judgment, too? 

—Pope. 

Awkwardness.— God may forgive sins, but awkwardness 
has no forgiveness in heaven or earth. 

— Hawthorne. 

Bachelors. — 

Let sinful bachelors their woes deplore, 
Full well they merit all they feel, and more. 

—Pope. 

" Man is a lover by instinct, a husband through 
reason, and a bachelor from calculation." 
Badness.— Best men are moulded out of faults, and for 
the most part become much better for being a 
little bad. — Shakespeare. 

Beauty.— A daughter of the gods, divinely tall, 
And most divinely fair. — Tennyson. 

I pray thee, O, God, to make me beautiful 
within. — Socrates. 

Like some fair flow'r that early spring supplies, 
That gaily blooms, but e'en in blooming dies. 

— Pop* 

Thine eyes are springs, in whose serene 
And silent waters heaven is seen. — Bryant. 

" Beauty is but a vain, a fleeting good, 
A shining gloss that fadeth soon, 
A flower that dies when almost in the bud, 
A bright glass that kreaketh suddenly." 

Beauties in vain their pretty eyes may roll; 
Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul. 



The composer's friend. 19 

Beginning.—" Well begun is half done." 

v We are not worse at once — the course of evil 

Begins so slowly, and from such slight source, 
. An infant's hand might stem its breach with clay. 
But let the stream get deeper, and philosophy — 
Ay, religion too, — shall strive in vain 
To turn the headlong torrent. — Scott. 
Belief.—" It is much easier to hang on the coat tail of 

popular belief than think for yourself." 
Benefit.—" It is an ill wind that blows nobody good." 
How far that little candle throws its beams! 
So shines a good deed in a naughty world. 

— Shakespeare. 

Benevolence. — 

The drying up a single tear has more 
Of honest fame than shedding seas of gore. 
(See Charity.) — Byron. 

Birth.— The greatest part of human felicity is to be well 
born *fc *n *h 

Man's best inheritance is a good birth. 

—Mrs. Dr. SMpp. 

Blindness.— None are so blind as those who will not 
- see. — Henry. 

If the blind lead the blind, they both shall fall 
into the ditch. — The Bible. 
Boldness^—" Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." 
It was the custom for a Roman to stand up in 
the courts and public places and say, " I am a Ro- 
man." 

A decent boldness ever meets with friends. 

— Pope. 



20 the: composer's FR-iE;ijri. 

'Books.— Books may be kept at a smaller charge than 
preachers. Good books are a very great mercy 
to the world. — Richard Baxter. 

We should accustom the mind to keep the best 
company by introducing it to the best books. 

— Sydney Smith. 
. God be thanked for books. — Channing. 

Books are spectacles to read nature. — Dryden. 

Through every clause and part of speech of a 
right book I meet the eyes of the most deter- 
mined of men ; his force and terror inundate 
every word ; the commas and dashes are alive. 
* * * It makes a great difference to the force 
of any sentence, whether there be a man behind 
it nor no. — Emerson. 

Books we know, 
Are a substantial world, both pure and good; 
Round which with tendrils strong as flesh and blood, 
Our pastime and our happiness will grow. 

— Wordsworth. 

Good books are to the young mind what the 
warming sun and refreshing rain of spring are to 
the seed which have lain dormant during the 
frosts of winter. — Horace Mann. 

There is May in books forever, 
May will part from Spencer never, 
May's in Milton, May's in Prior, 
May's in Chaucer, Thompson, Dyer; 
May's in all the Italian books; 
She has old and modern nooks, 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



21 



Where she sleeps with nymphs and elves, 
In happy places they call shelves, 
And will rise and dress your rooms 
With a drapery thick with blooms. 

1 — Leigh Hunt. 
Borrowing.— The borrower is servant to the lender. 
The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again. 

— The Bible. 
Bravery.— Who wickedly is wise, or madly brave, 

Is but the more a fool, the more a knave. 

— Pope. 

Calamity.— Calamity is man's true touchstone. 

—Beau and Fletch. 
Candor.— Nothing is more silly than the pleasure some 
people have in speaking their minds. 

— Richard Steele. 
'Tis not enough, taste, judgment, learning, join; 
In all you speak, let truth and candor shine. — Pope. 
Chance.— We are apt to lavish our praise upon chance, 
while we are stingy in bestowing it upon merit. 

— Frederick Douglass. 

All nature is but art unknown to thee; 

,A11 chance, direction, which thou canst not see. 

— Pope. 

Chance will not do the work — 

Chance sends the breeze; 

But if the pilot slumber at the helm, 

The very wind that wafts us towards the port 

May dash us on he shelves. — Scott. 

Men are the sport of circumstances, when 
Circumstances seem the sport of men. 
(See Opportunity. ) — Byron 



22- the; composer's '^ri^nd. 

Change.-^A change came o'er the spirit of my 
dreams. — Byron 

How in nice times a man should vote, 

At what conjuncture he should turn his coat. 

— Macauley. 

Character.— Character is what you are, reputation is what 
people think you are. — Memory Gems. 

O wad some power the giftie gie us, 
To see ovrselves as ithers see see us; 
It wad fra mony a danger free us, 
An foolish notion.— Robert Burns. 

Character, good or bad, has a tendency to per- 
petuate itself— A. A. Hodge, D. D. 

Only what we have wrought into our charac- 
acters during life can we take away with us. 

— Humboldt. 

Character is what we really are. Reputation 
is what others suppose we are. — A man may 
have a good character and a bad reputation, or 
he may have a good reputation and a bad 
character. — Methodist Recorder. 

Make the house where gods may dwell 
Beautiful, entire, and clean. — Lo?igfellow. 

What a man does is the real test of what he is. 

— Mathews. 

We're nettles, some of us, 
And give offense by the act of springing up. 

— Afrs. E. B. Browning. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



23 



Che men whom men respect, the women whom 
women approve, are the men and women who 
bless their species. — James Parton. 

What is birth to a man, if it shall be a stain to 
his dead ancestors to have left such an offspring. 

— Philip Sydney. 
And hence one master passion in the breast, 
Like Aaron's serpent, swallows up the rest. — Pope. 

What a man says or does is often an uncertain 
test of what he is. — Mathews. 

If i want tew git at the trew karkter ov a man, 
i study his vizes more than i dew his virtews. 

—Josh Billings {Henry W. Shaw) 
Charity.— Though I bestow all my goods to feed the 
poor, and have not charity, it profiteth me noth- 
ing. — The Bible. 
The drying up of a single tear has more 
Of honest fame than shedding seas of gore. 

— Byron. 

He that does good to another does good also 
to himself, not only in the consequence, but in 
the very act ; for the consciousness of well-doing 
is in itself ample reward. — Seneca. 

Charity should begin at home, but should not 
stay there. 

And each good tnought or action moves 

The dark world nearer to the sun. — Whittier. 

How far that little candle throws its beams ! 
So shines a good deed in a naughty world . 

— Shakespeare. 



24 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



If I have not charity, I am nothing. 

—The Bible. 

Cheerfulness.— It is worth a thousand pounds a year to 
have the habit of looking on the bright side of 
things. — Dr. Johnson. 

Childhood.— 

Childhood is the bough, where slumbered 
Birds and blossoms many-numbered; — 
Age, that bough with snows encumbered. 

— Longfellow. 

The childhood shows the man, 

As morning shows the day.— -John Milton. 

And ere the sun was fairly up, you saw the 
pinky buds upon the apple trees, and scented the 
violets in the morning air, and thought of what a 
fresh and lordly day was coming up the eastern 
sky. — Theo. Parker. 

Children— When we are out of sympathy with the 
young, then I think our work in this world is 
over. — Geo. McDonald. 

Some secret truths, from learned pride conceal' d, 
To maids alone and children are reveal' d. — Pope. 

Christianity.— What Christianity needs is more Chris- 
tians. — Emerson. 

Christian Life.— A true Christian living in the world is 
like a ship sailing on the ocean: It is not the 
ship being in the water, whjch will sink it, but 
the water getting into the ship. — N. Y. Observer. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



2 5 



Church The — 

It is not a time of danger, not of revel, 
When churchmen turn to masquers. 

— Sp. Father. 
To the lust of office, the greed of trade, 
A stepping stone is the altar made. 
The church, to place and power the door, 
Rebukes the sin of the world no more. — Whittier. 

Church Collection.— 

As in the box the money rings, 
The soul from Purgatory springs. — TetzeL 
Circumstances. — 

Men are the sport of circumstances, when 
Circumstances seem the sport of men. — Byron. 

There are very few persons who are bad by 
nature, i. e., who wanted to be bad and who 
started out with the avowed intention of being 
bad, — they are the victims of circumstances. 

— Dr. Talmage. 

Civility.— Civility is to a man what beauty is to a 
woman. — Anon. 

Gentility is an evidence of good breeding: ' 
Cleanliness.— Cleanliness is next to Godliness. 

— John Wesley. 
Comfort. — "* . 

See some strange comfort every state attend, 
And pride bestowed on all, a common friend. 

—Pope. 

Commerce. — ■ 

What war could ravish, commerce could bestow, 
And he retur'd a friend who came a foe. 
Converse and love mankind may strangely draw, 
When love was liberty and nature law. — Pope. 



26 



THE COMPOSER'S. FRIEND. 



Common Sense.— The crown of all faculties is- common 
sense — Matthews. 

Common sense plays the game with the cards 
it has, common sense bows to the inevitable, and 
makes use of it. It does not ask an impossible 
chess board, but takes the one before it, and 
plays the game. — Wendell Phillips. 
Competency.— See Fitness. 

Complaint.— But by th' immortal powers I feel the pain, 
And he that smarts has reason to complain, 

—Pope. 

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining; 
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining; 
Thy fate is the common fate of all, 
Into each life some rain must fall, 
Some days must be dark and dreary, 
, — Longfellow. 

Compliance— He that consents against his will, 
Is of his own opinion still. 

— Samuel Butler. 

CompH Ity.— But when -to mischief mortals bend their will, 
How soon they find fit instruments of ill. 

—Pope. 

Compromise.— And do as adversaries do in law- 
Strive mightily, but eat and drink as friends. 

— Shakespeare. 

Concetlment.— Full many a gem of purest ray serene, 
The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear: 
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, 
And waste its sweetness on the desert air. 

— Gray. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



2 7 



" It is an evil force that fosters the faults it 
seeks in vain to correct." 

Concentration.— The astonishing variety of talents which 
some men display is purchased at the dear price 
of comparative feebleness in every part. 

— Matthews. 
Be not simply good, be good for something. 

— Ihdreau. 

The highest reputation in every department of 
human exertion is reserved for minds of one 
faculty, where no rival powers divide the empire 
of the soul, and where there is no variety of pur- 
suits to distract and perplex its energies. 

— Matthews. 

One science only will one genius fit; 

So wide is art, so narrow human wit.= — Pope. 

Those who attain any excellence commonly 
spend life in one pursuit. — Dr. Samuel Jolinson. 

The marksman who aims at the whole target 
seldom hits the center. — Matthews. 

Not serve two masters? Here's a youth will try it — 
Would fain serve God, yet give the devil his due. 

—Scott. 

Knives that contain a half-dozen blades, two or 
three corkscrews, a file, a saw, a toothpick, and a 
pair of tweezers, are wretchedly adapted to any 
of these purposes, and are soon thrown away in 
disgust. — Matthews. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Concession.— Be thrifty, not covetous ; therefore give thy 
need, thine honor, and thy friend his due. 

— Geo. Herbert. 

Condition.— Honor and shame from no condition rise; 
Act well your part; there all the honor lies. 

—Pope. 

Conduct.— We count time by heart-throbs ; he most 
lives who thinks most, speaks the noblest, acts 
the best. — Bailey. 

" It is what we do that counts, not what we in- 
tend to do." 

But to act, that each to-morrow 

Fiud us further than to-day. * * * 

Be a hero in the strife: 

Act, act in the living present. — Loyigrellow. 

God demands an account of the past that we 
must render hereafter. 

He demands an improvement of the present, 
and this we must render now. — W.Jav. 

We do not choose our own parts in life, and 
have nothing to do with those parts. Our simple 
duty is confined to playing them well. — Epictetus. 

Honor and shame from no condition rise; 
Act well your part; there all the honor lies. 

—Pope. 

Our acts our angels are or good or ill, 
Our fatal shadows that walk by us still. 

— Shakespeare. 

That is a good day in which you have made 
some one happy. — Talmage. 



the; composer's friend. 



29 



" Desire not to live long, but well; 

How long we live, not years, but actions, tell." 

Heed how thou livest. Do not act by day 
Which from the night will drive thy peace a\^&y. 
In months of sun „ so live that months of rain 
Shall still be happy, evermore restrain 
Evil and cheerish good, so shall there be 
Another and a happier life for thee. — Whittle?. 

Who does the best his circumstance allows, 
Does well, acts nobly, angels could do no more. 

—Edward Young. 
Not always actions show the man: we find 
Who does a kindness is not therefore kind. 

— Pope. 

Men are judged not by their intentions, but by 
the result of their actions. — Lord Chesterfield. 
For what to shun will no knowledge need, 
But what to follow, is a task indeed. 

^ >fc >fi 

Dare nobly then: but conscious of your trust, 
As ever warm and bold, be ever just. 
Nor count applause in these degenerate days: 
The villians censure is extorted praise. — Pope. 

Conflict.— F or the noblest man that lives there still re- 
mains a conflict. — James A. Garfield. 

Conscience— Conscience is a great ledger-book in which 
all our offenses are written and registered. 

— RoUt Burton. 
One self approving hour whole years outweighs 
Of stupid starers and of loud huzzas. — Pope. 

Consent. — He that complies against his will, 

Is of his own opinion still. — Sam'J Butler. 



3P 



the composer's friend. 



Consistency.— << Consistency, thou art a jewel," — 

An eagle's talon asks an eagle's eye. 

- —Pope. 

Since thou so hotly disclaimest the Devil, be 
not thyself guilty of diabolism. 

— Sir Thomas Brozvne. 

Consolation, 

" Canst thou not minister to a mind diseas'd, 
Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrrow ? 

— S hakespeare . 
Constancy-— Constancy lives in realms above. 

Coleridge. 

Contentment.— I only ask that fortune send 

A little more than I can spend. — Holmes. 
" Doeb$iere discharge of duty bring content ? 
A thousand aching hearts will answer ' No! ' " 
Still all great souls still make their own content; 
We to ourselves may all our wishes grant ; 
For nothing coveting we nothing want. — Dry den. 

My crown is my heart, not on my head; 
Not deck'd with diamonds and Indian stones, 
Nor to be seen; my crown is called content; 
A crown it is that seldom kings enjoy. 

■3(6 *3fr 

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. 

— Shakespeare . 
To be, contents his natural desire, 
fte asks no angel's wing, nS seraph's fire. 

—Pope. 

"Better whistle than whine." 

" The highest point outward things can bring 
unto is the contentment of the mind ; with which 
no estate can be poor, without which all estates 
will be miserable." 



THK COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



31 



Continuity.— See Monotony. 

Conversation.— Conversation makes a ready man. 

— Bacon. 

Cooks.— We may live without poetry, music and art; 

We may live without conscience, and live with- 
out heart; 

We may live without friendfe, and live without 
books, 

But civilized man cannot live without cooks. 

— Owen Meredith. 

Corporal Punishment.— Foolishness is bound in the heart 
of a child ; but the rod of correction shall drive 
it far from him. * * . * 

He that spareth the rod hatefh his son ; but 
he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. 

# * * * * * 

A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and 
a rod for the fool's back. — The Bible. 
Countenance, The.— < The countenance is the index of the 
mind." 

A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance. 

— The Bible. 
The outward forms the inner man reveal, 
We guess the pulp before we eat the peel. — Pope. 

Nature has written a letter of credit upon some 
men's faces, which is honored almost wherever 
presented. — William M. Thackeray. 
Courage.^ We must swim off, and not wait for some one 
to put cork under us. 

* * * * Don't flinch, flounder, fall, nor fiddle, 
but grapple like a man, and you will be a man. 

—fohn Toddj D. D. 



32 THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 

Courtesy.— Intelligence and courtesy not always are com- 
bined; 

Often in a wooden house a golden room we 
find. — Lo7igfellow . 

Courtship. — : 

That man that hath a tongue I say is no man, 
If with his tongue he cannot win a woman. 

— Shakespeate. 

Cowardice.^" The difficulty in this cold world is that 
too many fellows want to stand with their backs 
to the fire." 

Creation.— All are but parts of one stupendous whole 

Whose body nature is, and God the soul. — Pope. 

Credit.— A nation's credit is its stronghold. 

—Thds B. Reed. 

Critic— In search of wit these lose their common sense, 
And then turn Critics in their own defense. 
* * * * * * 

Authors are partial to their wit, 'tis true, 
But are not Critics to their judgment, too ?-~*-Pope. 

' e Thou shalt do this and undo that," the toilsome 
critic said; 

But the poet strayed to Helicon, and touched his 
lips instead. 

Across ihe mirror of the fount he saw fair visions 
pass, 

- But never once the critic's face dark frowning 
from the glass. 
The poet, seized his tuneful lyre, and joyfully 
sang he; 

"Ohear! O hear! " the critic cried, "he learned 
■ 'that song of me." — Ida W. Benham. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



33 



Crookedness— That which is crooked cannot be made 

straight. — The Bible. 
Cunning.— Wanton wiles, 

Nods and becks and wreath' d smiles. 

— Milton. 

Custom.— « What is law itself, but old established 
custom ? * * * All things resolve in custom." 
Nothing is stronger than custom. — Ovid. 
Custom is almost a second nature. — Plutarch. 
Death.— There is no flock, how T ever watched and tended, 
But one dead lamb is there, 
There is no fireside, howsoe'er defended, 
But has one vacant chair. — Longfellow. 

" Death loves a shining mark." 

' 1 O why should we mourn when the beautiful die : 
Ere a cloud has passed over life's shadowless sky; 
Ere the well spring of hope by the world has been; 
drained, 

Or the freshness of youth by dark years have been 
stained ? 

Not for him, not for him the beloved and the blest 
Who has gone from this world to the haven of rest 
Not for him should we weep but for those who remain, 
Who miss him and feel that their tears are in vain. 

He is gone from among them and lonely and sad, 
Is the home that his presence no longer makes glad 
He is gone and a star in its brilliance has set, 
But the light of its beauty they cannot forget. ' ' 

That all we love, and all we hate, 

That all we hope, and all we fear, 

Bach mood or mind, each turn of fate, 

Must end in dust and silence here. — Macaulay. 



34 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



' ' And then should no dishonor lie 
Upon my head, when I am gray, 
IyOve yet shall watch my fading eye, 
And smooth the path of my decay," — 

Ah! age is drear, and death is cold. — Bryant. 

There is no death, 

What seems so is transition, 
This life of mortal breath 

Is but a suburb of the life elysian, 
Whose portal we call death.— Longfellow. 

Not what we would, but what we must, 

Makes up the sum of living; 
Heaven is no more nor less than just 

In taking and in giving. — R. H. Stoddard. 

Death's but a path that must be trod, 

If man would ever pass to God. — T/io's Parnell. 

'Tis a blessing to live, but a greater to die; 
And the best of the world is its path to the sky. 

—Jno. K. Mitchell. 
A man, perhaps, the moment of his breath, 
Receives the lurking principle of death. 
The young disease, that must subdue at length. 
Grows with his growth, and strengthens with nis 
strength . — Pope. 
" We shall sleep, but not forever; 
There will be a glorious dawn, 
In the bright, the bright forever, 
In the Summer's land of song." 
There is no union here of hearts, 
That finds not here an end. — Montgomery. 

There is no death. The stars go down 

To rise upon some fairer shore; 
And bright in Heaven's jeweled crown 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



35. 



They shine forevermore * * * * 
There is no death! The leaves may fall, 
The flowers may fade, and pass away; 

They only wait through wintry hours 

The coming of the May. — Bulwer Lytton. 

Death distant ? — No, alas he's ever with us, 
And shakes the dart at us in all our actings: 
He lurks within our cup while we're in health; 
Sits by our sick-bed, mocks our medicines; 
We cannot walk, or sit, or ride, or travel, 
But death is by to seize us when he lists. 

— Sp. Father {Scott. ) 

My love is dead, 
Gone to his death-bed 
All under the willow-tree. 

— Thomas Chatterton. 
"L,ike some grand river wid'ning towards the sea, 

Calmly and grandly join'd eternity." 
leaves have their time to fall, 

And flowers wither at the North wind's breath; 
The stars to set, but all — 

Thou hast all seasons for thine own, O Death! 

—HemanSf. 

The gay will laugh 

When thou art gone, the solemn brood of care 
Plod on, and each one as before will chase 
His favorite phantom; yet all these shall leave 
Their employment, and shall come 
And make their bed with thee. — Btyant. 

Our happiest hour is when at last the soul is 
freed. — Longfellow. 

" The night is mother of the day, 
The Winter of the Spring." 



36 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Debt.— Every man who would get on in the world 
should avoid debt. — Matthews. 
11 An unthrift was a liar from all time; 
Never was a debtor that was not deceiver." 

Let it be your first care not to be in any man's 
debt. — Dr. Johnson. 

" Lying rides on debt's back." 

The debtor is servant to the lender. 

O we no man anything but to love one another. 

—The Bible. 

Of all the foes to hurqan prosperity and hap*- 
hiness, there is none more deadly than debt. 

— Matthews. 

" Debt, however courteously it be offered, is 
the cup of a siren, and the wine, spiced and de- 
licious though it be, an eating poison." 

The* debtor, though clothed in the utmost 
bravery, is but a serf out upon a holiday — a 
slave to be re-claimed any instant by his owner, 
the creditor. — Douglas Jerrold. 
Deception.—" Deception is lying." 

O what a tangled web we weave, 

When first we practice to deceive, — Watte? Scott. 

" Never was a debtor that was not deceiver." 

The people delight to be humbugged. 

— P. T. Barnum. 

" Like those delusions which mock the eye of 
the mariner, which, on closer inspection, vanish 
in the air." 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



37 



Deceit.*— Faithful are the wounds of a friend ; but the 
kisses of an enemy are deceitful. — The Bible. 

Wanton wiles, 
Nods and becks and wreathe' d smiles. — Milton. 

Of yore, in old England, it was not thought good 
To carry two visages under one hood; 
What should fqjk say \oyou, who have faces such 
plenty, 

That from under one hood, you last night showed 
us twenty ? — Scott. . 

Decision.— There can be no success in life without de- 
cision of character. — Matthews. 

It is better to decide wrong occasionally, than 
to be forever wavering and hesitating, now veer- 
ing to this side and then to that, now starting, 
now stopping, with all the misery and disaster 
that follow from continual doubt. — Matthews. 

The fact is, that in doing anything in the 
world worth doing, we must not stand shiv- 
ering on the brink, thinking of the cold and 
danger beyond, but jump in, and scramble 
through as best we can. It will not do to be 
perpetually calculating risks, and adjusting nice 
chances. — Sydney Smith. 

Crises come, the seizing of which is triumph, 
the neglect of which is ruin. 

* * * * * * 

To know when to sacrifice a little to win a 
great deal, when to abandon important minor 



38 th;# composer's friend. 

objects to accomplish a great end, exacts the 
soundest judgment, and the decision has some- 
times to be made in a moment's thought. 

— Matthews 

Defects.— Trust not yourself; but your defects to know, 
Make use of ev'ry friend and ev'ry foe. — Pope. 

Deformity.— There is no more pitable wretch than the 
man in whom one giant faculty has starved the 
rest, like the dwarf whose large feet and hands 
seem to have devoured his stature. — Matthews. 

Degeneration. — 

' ' The world grows daily better, ' ' cries the fool, 
Ay, better surely, if the best be hell; 
For thither are we drifting. Mark it well. ' ' 
Delay. — 

" If 'twere done, when 'tis done, then 'twere well 
It were done quickly." 

1 ' Delays have dangerous ends. ' ' 

Of course, there are occasions when caution 

and delay are necessary, — when to act without 

long and anxious deliberation would be madness. 

All wisdom is a system of balances. — Matthews. 

Delusion.— The world hath its delights 

And its delusions, too, — Bowting. 

The fly that sips treacle is lost in the sweets. 

— Gay. 

Vows with so much passion, swears with so much 
grace, 

That 'tis a kind of heaven to be deluded by 
him. — Lee. 



the; Composer's friend. 39 

" Like those delusions which mock the eye of 
the mariner, which, on closer inspection, vanish 
in the air." 

Deportment.— Cast forth thy act, thy word into the ever- 
living universe : it is a seed grain that cannot 
die. — Thomas Carlyle. 

" Water cannot rise above its level." 
Every act of man inscribes itself in the mem- 
ories of his fellows, and in his own face. 

—Hugh Miller. 

Who does the best his circumstances allow, 
Does well, acts nobly, angels could do no more. 

— Edward Young. 
He that does good to another does good also 
to himself, not only in the consequence, but in 
the very act ; for the consciousness of well-doing 
is in itself ample reward. — Sencea. 

Despair.—" Never dispair when fog is in the air, 

A sunshiny morning will come without warning!" 

" Troubles never last forever; 
The darkest day will pass away." 

" If the sun is going down, look up to the stars; 
If the earth is dark, keep your eyes on heaven." 

But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast, 
And the days are dark and dreary. — Longfellow. 

Destiny.—" We ourselves shape the joys and fears 
Of which the life to come is made, 
And fill our future atmosphere 

With sunshine or with shade." 



40 THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 

Difference— But mutual wants this happiness increase, 
All nature's difference keeps all nature's peace. 

—Pope. 

Difficulty.— The greater the difficulty, the more the 
glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their 
reputations through storms and tempests. — Anon. 

Diligence— Seest thou a man diligent in his business, he 
shall stand before kings ; he shall not stand be- 
fore mean men. * * * * 

The hand of the diligent maketh mch. 
* * * * t * * 

The thoughts of the diligent tend only to 
plenteousness. ****** 
The soul of the diligent shall be made fat. 

—The Bible. 

Disagreement.—" When thieves fall out, honest men get 
their dues." 

" Who shall decide when doctors disagree ? " 

Disappointment —I saw two clouds in the morning, 
Tinged by the rising sun, 
And in the dawn they floated on 
And mingled into one. — Biainard. 

Discretion— For what to shun will no great knowledge 
need, 

But what to follow is a task indeed. 
****** 

launch not beyond your depth, but be discreet, 
And mark the point where sense and dulness meet. 

—Pope. 



tfHF, COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 41 

" I have seen the day of wrong through the lit- 
tle hole of discretion." 

Discretion is the better part of valor. 

— Shakespeare. 

As a jewel of gold in a swine's snout, so is a 
fair woman without discretion. — The Bible. 

Disgrace.— Press not a falling man too far. — Shakespeare. 

Display.— Take heed that ye do not your alms before 
men, to be seen of them.— The Bbile. 

Disposition.— Most men show something of their disposi- 
tions in their own homes which they have con- 
cealed elsewhere. — Wilkie Collins. 

Disproportion.— See Deformity. 

Dissatisfaction.— We look before and after, 

And sigh for what is not. H 

^5§g B. Shelly. 
"In the summer we faint, in the wij&er we are 
chilled, • r * 

With ever a void that is want to be fi r A." 

% . 

Dissipation— Not serve two masters ? Here's a youth 
will try it. 

Would fain serve God, yet give the devil his 
due. — Scott. 

Distance.— Distance adds enchantment to the view. 

— CampbclU 

When lips that you love are afar, 

M^ke love to the lips that are near.— Tom Moore. 

Distress. — In man's most dark extremity, 

Oft succor dawns from heaven. — Scott. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Doctors.—" Who shall decide when doctors disagree." 

" The only difference between a doctor and a 
lawyer is, that one plants his mistakes six feet 
under ground, while the other plants his six feet 

above." — Anon. 

Duplicity.— fhe rogue and fool by fits is fair and wise; 

And ev'n the best, by fits, what they despise, 

—Pope. 

Durability.— u Never be content with a bubble that will 
burst, or a fire-wood that will end in smoke and 
darkness." 

When falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall; 
And when Rome falls — the world! —Byron. 

' 1 vSomething sterling, that will stay 
When gold and silver fly away." 

Duty.—;' Does mere discharge of duty bring content ? 

A thousand aching hearts will answer ' No! ' " 

'Tis duty that enslave th womankind. — Knott. 

" Every hour comes to us charged with duty, 
and the moment it is past, returns to heaven to 
register itself how spent." 
Earnestness.— I am in earnest, — I will not equivocate,— 
I will not excuse, — I will not retreat a single 
inch, — I will be heard. — Wm. Lloyd Garrison, (on 
beginning the publication of" The Liberator!') 

A failure to accomplish your purpose only 
demonstrates the feebleness of your will, and not 
that you lacked time for its execution. — Mathews. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



43 



But that which issues from the heart alone, 
Will be the hearts of others to your own. 

. — Goethe. 

A politician, weakly and amiably*in the right, 
is no match for a politician tenaciously and 
pugnaciously in the wrong. — Whipple. 
Ease.— Is no more difficile 

Than to a blackbird 'tis to whistle." 
(See Eloquence.) 
Eating.— Many dishes bring many diseases. — Pliny. 

And do as adversaries do in law, 

Strive mightily, but eat and drink as friends. 

— Shakespeare. 

A feast is made for laughter, and maketh 
merry ; but money answereth all things. 

— The Bible. 

Eavesdropping.—" The eavesdropper never hears any 
good of himself." 

Take no heed unto all words that are spoken ; 
lest thou hear thy servant curse thee. — The Bible. 
Economy.— A dollar saved is a dollar made. — Franklin. 
" Economy is the basis of all thrift." 
A creative economy is the fuel of magnificence. 

— Emers ou. 

Industry and economy will get rich while 
sagacity and intrigue are laying their plans. 

— Paley. 

But economy is a wholly different thing from 
penuriousness ; so different, indeed, that it is only 



44; 



the composer's friend. 



the econ©mical man who can afford to be liberal, 
or even to live with ease and magnanimity. 

— Mathews. 

" Take care of the pence ; the pounds will take 
care of themselves ; " or, as Americans say, 
Take care of the cents ; the dollars will take 
care of themselves." — Loivndes. 

Economy is of itself a great revenue. — Cicero. 

No one is rich whose expenditures exceed his 
means, and no one is poor whose incomings 
exceed his outgoings. — Haliburton. 

Following riches is like following wild geese ; 
you must crawl after both on your belly ; and the 
moment you pop up your head, off they go, 
whistling before the wind, and you see no more 
of them. — Mathews. * 

Knowledge is not what you learn, but what 
you remember. It is not what you eat, but what 
you digest that makes you grow. It is not the 
money you handle, but that you keep, that makes 
you rich. — Schuyler Colfax. 

One of the reasons why many persons refuse 
to practice economy is, that it is associated with 
meanness. — Mathews. 

•Education— "Ti s education forms the -common mind; 

Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined. 

—Pope. 

A man is educated who knows how to make a 
tool of every faculty — how to open it, how to 



the; composer's friend. 



45 



keep it sharp, and how to apply it to all practical 
purposes. — Henry Ward Beecher. 

" Education is the knowledge of how to use 
the whole of one's self. — Men are often like 
knives with many blades ; they know how to 
open one, and only one ; — all the rest are buried 
in the handle, and they are no better than they 
would have been if they had been made with but 
one blade. Many men use but one or two facul- 
ties out of the score with which they are 
endowed." 

Every person has two educations — one which 
he receives from others, and one, more import- 
ant, which he gives to himself. — Gibbon. 

All who have meditated on the art of govern- 
ing mankind, have been convinced that the fate 
of empires depends solely on the education of 
youth. — Aristotle, 

What does education often do ? — It makes a 
straight cut ditch of a free meandering brook. 

— Henry D. TRoreau. 

The time will come when some inventive 
genius will enable us to drop a nickel in the slot 
and take out a complete education. 

— Chas. Dudley Warner. 

Education is a better safeguard of liberty, than 
a standing army. — Edw. Everett. 

Reading makes a full man, writing an exact 
man, and conversation a ready man. — -Bacon. 



46 THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 

Ye call this education, do you not ? 
Why ' tis the forced march of a herd of bullocks 
Before a shouting drover. The glad van . • 
Move on at ease, * * * * 
. While all the blows, the oaths, the indignation 
Fall on the croupe of the ill-fated laggard 
That cripples in the rear. — Scott. 
But as the slightest sketch, if justly trac'd, 
Is by ill-colouring but the more disgrac'd, 
So by false learning is good sense defac'd. 

* * * * >jc 

Some are bewilder 'd in the maze of schools, 
And some made coxcombs nature meant for fools. 

—Pope. 

Efficiency— See fitness. 

Elopement.— when once the young heart of a maiden is 
stolen, 

The maiden herself will steal after it soon. 

— Moore. 

Eloquence.— Eloquence consists in the man, the subject, 
and the occasion. — Sheridan. 

" Eloquence is the soul of oratory." 

All his discourses were embodied in harmonies 
and well composed periods, raised o*F winged 
language, vivified, fused, and poured along in the 
tide of emotion, fervid and incapable of being 
withstood. — Rufus Choate, on Daniel Webster's 
oration. 

Embrace.— Imparadised in each other's arms. — Milton. 

Emergency— " There come exegencies in the life ot every 
person— when they are on the edge of a preci- 
pice, or between two millstones." 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



47 



Endurance.— It is better to write one word upon the 
rock, than a thousand on the water and the sand- 

Wm. E. Gladstone. 
To bear is to conquer our fate. — Campbell. 
Rock-ribbed and ancient as the sun. — Bryant. 
To be resigned when ills betide, 
Patient when favors are denied. — Cotton. 
*' Sorrow and silence are strong ; but patfent 
endurance is God like." 
You may break, you may shatter the vase if you will, 
But the scent of the roses will cling round it still. 

— Thomas Moore. 

Enemy.— Faithful are the wounds of a friend ; but the 

kisses of an enemy are deceitful. — The Bible. 
Energy.— Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but 

in rising every time we fall. — Confucius. 

Kites rise against, not with the wind. * * * 

No man ever worked his passage anywhere in a 

dead calm. — Neal. 

Pluck bright honor from the pale faced moon, 
Or dive into the bottom of the deep, 
Where fathom-line could never touch the ground, 
And drag up drown 'd honor by the locks. 

— Shakes teare. 

il I^et the road be rough and dreary, 

And its end far out of sight; 
Foot it bravely, strong or weary; 

Trust in God and do the right." 

A pound of energy with an ounce of talent will 
achieve greater results that a pound of talent with 
an ounce of energy. — Mathews. 



4& THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 

* 

Enforcement of Law.— A good law without execution is 

like an unperformed promise. — Jeremy Taylor. 
Enjoyment.— Precious evenings all too swiftly sped. — 

Longfellozv, on Mrs. Kemble's readings from 
Shakespeare. 

Ennui.— There is a mood of mind we all have known 
On drowsy eve' or dark and low' ring day, 
When the tired spirits lose their sprightly tone, 
And naught can chase the lingering hours away. 

—Scott 

Equality.— Know, Nature's children all divide her care; 
The fur that warms a monarch, warm'd a bear. 

—Pope. 

Error.— Truth, crushed to earth, will rise again; 
The eternal years of God are hers; 
But error, wounded, writhes in pain, 
And dies among its worshippers. 

— Wm. C. Bryant. 
Error like this even truth can scarce reprove; 
'Tis almost virtue when it flows from love, 

^ s{c sjc jfc jjc 

God, nature and good sense must ever join. 
To err is human, to forgive divine. — Pope. 
Evldeoce.-rBy their fruits we shall know them. 

—The Bible. 

fcvil.— " It is an evil force that fosters the faults it seeks 
in vain to correct." 

Evil is wrought by want of thought, 
As well as want of heart. — Thomas Hood. 
Exactness.— It is iiot enough to do the right thing, but 

we must do it in the right way and at the right 

time. — Mathews. 



the; composer's friend. 49 

" Every fish has its fly ; but even the right fly 
is not enough ; you must play it nicely at the 
right spot" 

It is not enough to do the right thing, per se ; 
it must be done at the right time, and in the right 
place. — Mathews, 

Example.— No man is so insignificant that he by his 
example can do no hurt. — Lord Clarendon. 

People seldom improve when they have no 
other model but themselves to copy after. 

— Goldsmith. 

Excellence.—" That which is not worth doing well is not 
worth doing at all." 

Exercise.—" The average man would sooner pay dues at 
a gymnasium than saw his own wood for exer- 
cise." 

Exertion— Silently sat the artist alone, 

Carving a Christ from the ivory bone, 

Little by little with toil and pain, 

He won hjis way through the sightless grain. 

— Geo. Baker. 

Pigeons ready-roasted do not fly into the 
mouths of the most talented artists. As a rule, 
you must first catch, pluck, and then roast them. 

— Franc Suppe. 

You cannot dream yourself into a character, 
you must hammer and forge yourself into one. 

— /as. A. Froude. 



5o 



THR COMPOSER *S FRIKND. 



Expense.— "fis use alone that sanctifies expense, 

And splendor borrows all her rays from sense, 

— Pope. 

No man is rich whose expenditures exceed his 
means, and no one is poor whose incomings 
exceed his outgoings. — Haliburton. 

Experience.— Such prudence, Sir, in all your words ap- 
pears, 

As plainly proves, experience dwells with 
years. — Pope. 

Extremes— Extremes in nature equal ends produce; 
In man they join to some mysterious use. 

Extremes in nature equal good produce; 
Extremes in man concur to general use. — Pope. 

Failure.— A failure establishes only this, — that our de- 
termination to succeed was not strong enough. 

— Bovee. 

" He went to Palestine to kill a Turk, and 
came back with a notion." 

In the lexicon of youth, which fate reserves for 
a bright manhood, there is no such word as fail. 

— Bulwer Lytton. 

There is no fiercer hell than the failure in a 
great attempt. — Keats. 

Not failure, but low aim, is crime. — Lowell. 

To no other calling is failure in life sd fre- 
quently to be traced as to a mistaken. calling. 

— Mathews. 



the composer's friend. 51 

Faithfulness,— To thine own self be true, 

And it must follow as the night the day, 
Thou canst not then be false to any man. 

—§hakespeare . 

Fallibility.— Man, while he striveth, 

Still is prone to err. — Goethe. 

Falling.— Press not a falling man too far. Our greatest 
glory is not in never fallling, but in rising every 
time we fall. — Confucius. 

Falsehood.*-See Lying. 

Fame— What's fame ? a fancied life in others' breath, 
A thing beyond us ev'n before our death. 

* * All fame is foreign, but of true desert; 

Plays round the head, but comes not to the 
heart, 

* * Ravish' d with the whistling of a name, 

See Cromwell damn'd to everlasting fame. 

* * Faith, Justice, Heaven itself now quit their 

hold, 

When to false fame the captive heart is sold. 
(See Reputation.) — Pope. 

Fanaticism.— This is fanaticism : when, by thinking too 
much of the other world, a man becomes unfit to 
live in this. — Bovee. 

A fanatic is he who first sees a great truth and 
earnestly presents it. When more come to see 
it, he becomes an enthusiast ; when everybody 
sees it, he is a hero. 

— Lady Henry Somerset ', of England. 



52 



the; composer s friend. 



Fancy.— '* Woe to the youth whom fancy gains, 

Winning from reason's hands the reins." 
For a sicjjyfcncy made him not her slave, 
To mark iRi with her phantom miseries. 

— Bryant. 

Farming— Happy the man, whose wish and care 
A few paternal acres bound, 
Content to breathe his native air, 
In his own ground. — Pope. 

Happy the man who tills the field, 

Content with rustic labor; 
Earth does to him her fullness yield, 

Hap what may to his neighbor, 
Well days, sound nights — Oh! can there be 
A life more National and free? — Stoddard. 
Fashion.— And even while Fashion's brightest arts decoy 
The heart distrusting asks if this be joy. 

— Oliver Goldsmith. 

Fate.— Some people refer their successes to virtue and 
ability ; but it is all fate. — Pliny. 
Kven in the most exalted state, 
Relentless sweeps the stroke of fate; 
The strongest fall. — Longfellow, 

Heaven from all creatures hides the book of 

tate. — Pope. 

All are architects of Fate 

Working -in these walls of time. — Longfellow. 

Fault-finding.— Think of thy brother no ill, but throw a 
veil over his failing. — Longfellow. 

Fault-finding tends to division, rejection, and 
misery. * * * * Almost everybody dis- 
pleases the fault-finder. — Lason. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



53. 



Faults.— Best men are moulded out of faults, and for the 
most part become much better for being a little 
bad. — Shakespeare. 

Survey the whole, nor seek slight faults to 
find. — Pope. 

Let him that is without sin first cast a stone. 

—The Bible. 

Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye 
which are spiritual, restore such an one in the 
spirit of meekness ; considering thyself, lest thou 
also be tempted. — The Bible. 

Fear.— There is no fear in love ; but perfect love casteth 
out fear. * * 

Fear is the beginning of wisdom and knowl- 
edge. * * 

Fear is to hate evil. * * 

Fear prolongeth days. * * 

Fear is a fountain of life. — The Bible. 

Feast— A feast is made for laughter, and maketh merry , 
but money answereth all things —The Bible. 

Festivity.— And the night shall be filled with music, 
And the cares that infest the day 
Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs, 
And as silently steal away. — Longfellow. 
Fiction— Fiction entices and deceives, 

And sprinkled o'er her fragrant leaves 
Ivies poisonous dew. — Longfellow. 
Firmness. — 

But chief, be steady in a noble end, 

And show mankind that truth has yet a friend. 

—Pope. 



54 



the composer's friend. 



Be firm; one constant element of luck 

Is genuine, solid, old, Teutonic pluck. 

Stick to your aim: the mongrel's hold- will slip, 

But only crow-bars loose the bull-dog's grip; 

Small though he looks, the jaw that never yields 

Drags dow r n the bellowing monarch of the fields. 

— Holmes. 

Fitness.— 

Every one has something in his soul, 

And each man is a book that God himself has written. 

— Victor Hugo. 

Every man has in himself a continent of un- 
discovered character. — Happy is he who acts the 
Columbus to his own soul. — Anon. 

Be not simply good, be good for something. 

— Thoreau. 

"No man ever made an ill figure who under- 
stood his own talents, or a good one, who mis- 
took them." 

Competency is the key that opens many doors. 

—Miss Ida B. Gibbs. 
Each might his sev'ral province well command, 
Would all but stoop to what they understand. 

There lives not a man on earth, out of a lunatic 
asylum, who has not in him the power to do 
good. — Sir Edward Bulwer Lyttoji. 
(See Adaptability.) —Pope. 
Flattery.— 

" No flattery, boy! an honest man can't live by 't. 
It is a little, sneaking art, which knaves^ 
Use to cajole and soften fools withal. 
If thou hast flatt'ry in thy nature, out with't." 



the composer' 5 Friend. 55 

A flattering mouth worketh ruin. * * * A 
man that flattereth his neighbor spreadeth a net 
for his feet. — The Bible. 
Forbearance.— There is a limit at which forbearance 

ceases to be a virtue. — Edmund Burke. 
Force.— The love principle is stronger than the force 
pd^lciple. — Dr. A. A. Hodge. 
(See corporal Punishment.) 
Foresight.— An eagle's talon, asks an eagle's eye. — Pope. 

Forgiveness.— To err is human; 

To forgive, divine. — Alexander Pope. 

Think of thy brother no ill, but throw a veil 
over his failings. — Longfellow. 

Live well; how long or short, permit to Heaven; 
They who forgive most, shall be most forgiven. 

— Pope. 

Folly.— The broadest mirth unfeeling folly wears, 

Less pleasing far than virtue's very tears. — Pope. 

Fool.— The way of a fool is right in his own eyes : but 
he that hearkeneth unto council is wise. 

— The Bible. 

A noble fool was never in a fault. * * 

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. * * 

All fools have still an itching to deride, 

And fain would be upon the laughing side. * * 

Some are bewilder' d in the maze of schools, 

And some made coxcombs nature meant for fools. 

—Pope. 

Frailty.— 

Since painted, or not painted, all shall fade. 

And she who scorns a man must die a maid. * * 



.56 



the composer's friend. 



Like some fair flow'r the early Spring supplies, 
That gaily blooms, but ev'n in blooming dies. 

—Pope. 

Fraternization — 

Man, like the generous vine, supported lives; 

The strength he gains is from th' embrace he gives. * 

But as he fram'd the whole, the whole to bless, 

On mutual wants built mutual happiness: 

So from the first, eternal Order ran, 

And creature link'd to creature, -man to man. 

Union the bond of all things and of man. 

Nothing is foreign, parts relate to whole; 
One all-extending, all-preserviug Soul 
Connects each being, greatest with the least; 
Made beast in aid of man, and man of beast; 
All serv'd, all serving: nothing stands alone; 
The chain holds on, and where it ends, unknown. 
(See Reciprocation, Union.) — Pope. 

Freedom.—" Here, beneath a virtuous sway, 
May we cheerfully obey; 
Never feel oppression's rod — 
Ever own and worship God." 

Freedom of Speech —The evil of silencing the expression 
of an opinion, is that it is robbing the human 
race.— John Stuart Mill. 

Fretting.— u Fretting is both a moral and physical sjn, 
destroying health, usefulness and happiness." 

What is past, is past forever; 

Let all fretting be resigned; 
It will never help the matter — 

Do your best, and never mind. — Anon. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



57 



Fret not thyself in anywise to do evil. 

—The Bible. 
What's the use of always fretting 

At the trials we shall find 
Ever strewn along our pathway ? 
Travel on, and never mind. — Anon. 

Fretting weakens one's self respect. * * It is 
an evil force, that fosters the faults it seeks in 
vain to correct. — Lason. 

" Worry kills more men than work." 

' : It never pays to fret and growl, 
When fortune seems our foe, 
The better bred w411 push ahead 
And strike the braver blow." 

Friendship — 

A friendship that, like love, is warm; 
A love, like friendship, steady. — Moore. 

" Friends, like books, should be few and well 
chosen." 

And do as adversaries do in law — 

Strive mightily — but eat and drink as friends. 

— Shakespeare. 

The only way to have a friend is to be one. 

— Ralph W. Emerson. 

" How sweet to have a faithful friend, 
In whom we can confide: 
To bless us if we act aright, 
And if we err, to chide." 

' ' Poor is the friendless master of a world. 
A world in purchase of a friend is gain." 



58 THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 

" True friends, like the ivy and the wall, 
Both stand together or together fall." 

And what is friendship but a name, 

A charm that lulls to sleep, 
A shade that follows wealth or fame 

And leaves the wretch to weep. 

— Goldsynith. 

Small service is true service while it lasts, 
Of friends however humble scorn not one, 

The daisy by the shadow that it casts, 

Protects the lingering dew-drop from the sun. 

— Wm. Wordsworth. 

Fright.— A stag at bay 's a dangerous foe. — Scott. 

Fruit— The thorns which I have reap'd are ot the tree 
I planted ; they have torn me and I bleed. I 
should have known what fruit would spring from 
such a seed. — Byron. 
(See Result.) 

Futility — 

' ' To wound the loud winds, or, with bemocked at 
stabs, 

To kill the still closing waters. ' ' 

Future.— Oh! blindness to the future! kindly giv'n, 

That each may fill the circle mark' d by heaven. 

—Pope. 

Gain.—" An evil gain is equal to a loss." 

Genius.— Genius, at first, is little more than a great ca- 
pacity for receiving discipline. — George Eliot. 
(See Patience.) 



The composer's friend. 



59 



Goodness.— Abashed the devil stood, 

And felt how awful goodness is, and saw 
Virtue in her shape how lovely. — Milton, 
" Meanness shun, and all its train; 
Goodness seek and life is gain." 

Good, The.— Best men are moulded out of faults, and for 
the most part become much for being a little bad. 

— Shakespeare. 
Gosslpping.— " Whispering tongues can poison truth." 

Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue, 
keepeth his soul from troubles. — The Bible. 
(See Tongue.) 
Government. — There must be government in all society. 
Bees have their Queen, and stag herds have their 
leader; 

Rome had her consuls, Athens had her Archons. 

Scott. 

God reigns, and the government at Washing- 
ton still lives. — Garfield. 
Grave, The.— There all are equal, side by side 

The poor man and the son of pride 
Ivie calm and still. — Longfellow. 
A path, thick set with changes and decays, 
Slopes downward to the place of common sleep. 

— Bryant. 

(See Death.) 

Greatness.— Who noble ends by noble means obtains, 
* * * * that man is great indeed. — Pope. 
How guilt and greatness equal ran, 
And all that rais'd the hero, sunk the man. 

-—Pope 



6o 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



" Great events produce great men." 
Some are born great ; some achieve greatness; 
and some have greatness thrust upon them. 

— Shakespeare. 

Great men can no more be made without 
trials, than bricks can be made without fire. 

— Mathews. 

There never was a great man, unless through 
divine inspiration. — Cicero. 
" In joys, in griefs, in triumphs, in retreat, 
Great he was without aiming to be great." — 
" He who maintains his country's laws, 
Alone is great; or, he who dies in the good cause." 
Order is heaven's first law; and this confess' d, 
Some are, and must be, greater than the rest, 
More rich, more wise; but who infers from hence 
That such are happier, shocks all common sense. 

—Pope. 

" 'Tis not birth, nor wealth, nor state, 

But get up and get that makes a man great." 

— Old Saw. 

Grief.— Every one can master a grief but him that has 

it. — Shakespeare. 

Never morning wore 

To evening, but some heart did break. 

• — Tennyson. 
Our days are covered o'er with grief, 
And sorrows neither few nor brief, 
Veil all in gloom. — Longfellow. 
' ' How grand and true in the belief 
That the joy which conies after grief 
Is grander and never so brief 
As other joys." 



the composer's friend. 6 1 

There is a day of sunny rest 
For every dark and troubled night; 
And grief may hide an evening guest, 
But joy shall come with early light. 

For God hath marked each sorrowing day, 
And numbered every secret tear, 
And heaven's long age of bliss shall pay 
For all His children suffer here. — Bryant. 
(See Sorrow.) 

Quilt.— How guilt and greatness equal ran, 

And all that rais'd the hero, sunk the man. 

—Pope. 

** A guilty conscience needs no accuser." 

God hath yoked to guilt her pale tormentor, 
misery. — Bryant. 

" Those who live in glass houses should never 
throw stones." 

A guilty conscience is like a whirlpool, draw- 
ing in all to itself which would otherwise pass 
by. — Fuller. 

Habit.— No man ever became extremely wicked all at 
once. — Jurenal. 

Use and Habit are powers, 
Far stronger than Passion, 
In this world of ours. 

— Robt Bulwer-Lytton . 
There's method in man's wickedness, — 
It grows up by degrees. — Beau, and Fl etch. 
Habit is ten times nature * * * 
Habit, if not resisted, becomes a necessity. 

— Dr. J. E. Rankin. 



62 



the; composer s friend. 



Habit is a cable ; we weave a thread of it each 
day, and at last we cannot break it 

— Horace Mann. 

We can only break it as we made it by break- 
ing a thread each day. — Prof. Boss. 

We are not worse at once — the course of evil 
Begins so slowly, and from such slight source, 
An infant's hand might stem its breach with clay. 
But let the stream get deeper, and philosophy — 
Ay, religion too, — shall strive in vain 
To turn the headlong torrent. — Scott. 
(See Custom.) 

Hair. - Fair tresses man's imperial race ensnare, 

And beauty draws us with a single hair. — Pope. 

Happiness.— But what mortal lives of bliss secure, 

How short a space our worldly joys endure. 

—Pope. 

Fair laughs the morn, and soft the zephyr 
blows. — Gray. 

" To some, indeed, Heaven grants the happier state." 
" Truest happiness is found in making others happy." . 
Brilliant hopes, all woven into gorgeous tissues. 

— Longfellow . 

" The spider's most attenuated thread 

Is cord, is cable to man's slender tie 

On earthly bliss — it breaks at every breeze. ' ' 

Some place the bliss in action, some in ease, 

Those call it pleasure, and contentment these 
* * * * *• * 

Virtue alone is happiness below — 

The only point where human bliss stands still, 

And tastes the good, without the fall to ill. — Pope. 



THS COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



6.3 



Condition, circumstance is not the thing; 

Bliss is the same in subject or in king. 
* * * * « * 

Reason's whole pleasure, all the joys of sense, 

Lie in three words, — health, peace, and competence. 

— Pope. 

Perfect happiness was never intended by the 
Deity to be the lot of one of his creatures in this 
world. — Thomas Jefferson. 

But he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is 
he.— The Bible. 
Hatred— There may be a defect in my character, but I 

never could hate anybody. — -James A. Garfield. 
Health.— But health consists with temperance alone. 

— Fope. 

Health is a large ingredient in what the world 
calls talent. * * * 

A weak mind in a herculean frame, is better 
than a giant mind in a crazy constitution. 

— Mathews. 

Heart, The.— " As in water, face answereth to face, so the 
heart of man to man." 

The heart giveth grace unto every art. * * 

It is the heart, and not the brain, 
That to the highest doth attain. 

— Longfellow. 

Heaven— He who seldom thinks of heaven is not likely 
to get there. The way to hit a mark is to keep 
the eye fixed upon it. — Bishop Horne. 



6 4 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



" That calm world of sunshine, where no grief 
Makes the heart heavy and the eyelids red." 

When I get to heaven, I shall see three won- 
ders there. The first wonder will be to see peo- 
ple there I did not expect ; the second wonder 
will be to miss many persons whom I did expect 
to see ; and the third, and greatest wonder of all, 
will be to find myself there. — John Newton. 

The love of heaven makes one heavenly. 

— Shakespeare. 

There are but three steps to heaven — -out of 
self, into Christ, into glory. — Rowland Hill. 

The way to heaven. — You have only to turn 
to the right, and go straight forward. 

— Bishop of Lonsdale. 

There is a day of sunny rest 

For every dark and troubled night; 

And grief may hide an evening guest, 

But joy shall come with early light. 
* * # * * * 

For God hath marked each sorrowing day, 
And numbered every secret tear, 
And heaven's long age of bliss shall pay 
For all his children suffer here. — Bryant. 

Hesitation.— It is better to decide wrong occasionally, 
than to be forever wavering and hesitating, now 
veering to this side and then to that, now start- 
ing, now stopping, with all the misery and disas- 
ter that follow from continual doubt. — Mathews. 
" He who hesitates is lost." 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



65 



Home.— '« A man's home is his castle." " A man's 
home is his palace." 

Home-keeping youths have ever homely 
wits. — Shakespeare. 

Home is the grandest of all institutions. 

— C. H. Spurge on. 
Mid pleasures and palaces though we my roam, 
Be it ever so humble there's no place like home. 

— John H. Payne. 
1 1 How much a monkey that has been to Rome 
Excels a monkey that has stayed at home? " 
Stay, stay at home, my heart, and rest; 
Home-keeping hearts are happiest; 
For those that wander, they know not where, 
Are full of trouble, and full of care. — Longfellow. 
What is a home ? a guarded space 
Wherein a few, unfairly blest 
Shall sit together, face to face, 
And bask and purr, and be at rest ? 

■X- * * # * * 

No, art may bloom and peace and bliss; 
Grief may refrain and death forget ; 
But if there be no more than this, 
The soul of home is wanting yet. — Coolidge. 
" Cling to thy home! if there the meanest shed 
Yield thee a hearth and shelter for thy head 
■* * * * * * 

Yet e'en this cheerless mansion shall provide 
More heart's repose than all the world beside," 
The whole world, without a native home, 
Is nothing but a prison of larger room. — Cowley. 
Such is the patriot's boast, where'er we roam, 
His first, best country, ever is at home. 

— Goldsmith. 



66 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Home's not merely four square walls, 
Though with pictures hung and gilded: 
Home is where affection calls, 
Filled with shrines the heart hath builded ! 

****** 

Home's not merely roof and room, 
It needs something to endear it; 
Home is where the heart can bloom, 
Where there's some kind lip to cheer it! 
What is home with none to meet, 
None to welcome, none to greet us? 
Home is sweet — and only sweet — 
When there's one we love to meet us! 

— Charles Swain. 
The little smiling cottage, where at even 
He meets his rosy children at the door, 
Prattling their welcomes, and his honest wife, 
With good brown cake and bacou slice, intent 
To cheer his hunger after labor hard. — Dyer. 
Home is the sacred refuge of our life, 
Secured from all approaches but a wife: 
If thence we fly, the cause admits no doubt, 
None but an innate foe could turn us out. 

— Dry den. 

He is the happiest, be he king or peasant, who 
finds peace in his home. — Goethe. 
(See Visiting.) 
Homeless, The. — 

" God help the homeless! wanderers on the earth, 
For whom no roof inclines its sheltering eaves; 
No fireside glows; no voice of love or mirth 
Calls to the garden flowers, the hillside sheaves." 

Honesty.— An honest man's the noblest work of God. 

— Pope. 



THE composer's friend. 



67 



Piovide things honest in the sight of all men. 

—The Bible. 

Take note, take note, O world; to be direct and 
honest is not safe. — Shakespeare. 

The honest man, though e'er sae poor, is king 
o'men for a'that. — Burns. 

Honesty is the best policy. — Don Quixote. 

Honesty is not only the best policy, but the 
best principle. — Hoss. 

An honest man is able to speak for himself, 
when a knave is not. — Shakespeare. 

The more honesty a man has, the less he af- 
fects the air of a saint. — Lavater. 
Hope. — 

Hope springs eternal in the human breast; 
Man never is but always to be blest. — Pope. 

" The hopeful are never unfortunate. What- 
ever adversity the past may have brought them, 
their present is untroubled, their future is always 
radiant." 

And hope is brightest when it dawns from fears, * 
* And love is loveliest when embalmed in tears. 

— Scott. 

One prospect lost, another still we gain, 
And not a vanity is giv'n in vain. — Pope. 
(See Victory — Success.) 
Humility.— Th' exactest traits of body or of mind, 

We owe to models of a humble kind. — Pope. 
Idea, An.— An idea, like a ghost, must be spoken to a 
little before it will explain itself. 

— Charles Dickens. 



68 



The composer's friend. 



" Ideas go booming through the world louder 
than cannon." 

If there is an angel who records the sorrows 
of men, he knows how many and deep are the 
sorrows that spring from false ideas for which no 
man is culpable. — Maria Cross. 

Nothing is so dangerous to a stupid conserva- 
tism as an idea. — Ridpath. 

We do not take possession of our ideas, but 
are possessed by them. 

They master us and force us into the arena, 

Where, like gladiators, we must fight for 
them. — Heine. 

" Men of one idea are dangerous men — they 
call them cranks." 
Idleness.— An idle soul suffers hunger. — The Bible. 

The worst vices springing from the worst prin- 
ciples, the excesses of the libertine, the outrages 
of the plunderer, usually take their rise from early 
and unsubdued idleness. — Parr. 

" Idleness breeds mischief." 

" An idle brain is the devil's workshop.'' 

Troubles spring from idleness, and grievous 
toils from needless ease. — Benj. Franklin. 

" Eschew the idle vein, 

Flee, flee from doing naught! 
For never was there idle brain 
But bred an idle thought. ' ' 



the: composer's friend. 



69. 



There is always hope in a man that actually 
and earnestly works. In idleness alone is there 
perpetual despair. — Carlyle. 

Ignorance.—" A wink is as good as a nod to a blind 
horse." 

Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise. 

— Gray. 

That science is a blindman's guess, 
And history a nurse's tale. — Macauley. 

11 A headless man had a letter to write, 
1 Twas read by one who'd lost his sight; 
The dumb repeated it word for word, 
And he was deaf who listened and heard. ' ' 

But knowledge to their eyes her ample page, 
Rich with the spoils of time did ne'er unroll. 

— Gray. 

Ignorance is the curse of God; 

Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven. 

— Shakespeare. 

It is impossible to make people understand 
their ignorance ; for it requires knowledge to per- 
ceive it, and therefore he that can perceive it hath 
it not. — Addison. 
Imagination. — Imaginary evils soon become real ones by 
indulging our reflections on them. 

— JonatJian Swift. 

Whatever warms the heart, or fills the head 
As the mind opens, or its functions spread, 

Imagination plies her dangerous art, 

And pours it all upon the peccant part. — Pope. 



70 THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 

Immortality.— In the wreck of noble lives, 

Something immortal still survives. 

* * ;k # * * 

You may break, you my shatter the vase if you will, 
But the scent of the roses will cling 'round it still. 

— Longfellow . 

Impatience.— Hardly anything is more fatal to success in 
business than impatience for immediate results. 

— Mathews. 

Imperfections. — 

And hence one master passion in the breast, 
Like Aaron's serpent, swallows up the rest. 

— Pope. 

Impressions.—" Daily we write our autographs on the 
minds and hearts of those around us." 
(See Influence.) 

Improvement. — 

We think our fathers fools, so wise we grow; 
Our wiser sons, no doubt, will think us so. 

—Pope. 

Inactirlty.— Perched, and sat, and nothing more. 

Edgar A. Poe. 

Men must know that in this theatre of man's « 
life, it remaineth only for God and angels to be 
lookers-on. — Bacon. 

Incompatibility, — 

Swords cleave to hands that sought the blow, 
And laurels miss the soldier's brow. 

—R. H. Stoddart. 

Often in a wooden house a golden room we 
find. — Longfellow. 



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71 



Inconsistency.— 

Some praise at morning what they blame at night; 
But always think the last opinion right. — Pope. 
Indifference.— " A headless man had a letter to write, 
'Twas read by one who'd lost his sight; 
The dumb repeated it word for word, 
And he was deaf who listened and heard." 
Infidelity.-The infidelity that hurts is the infidelity of 
the man who pretends he's on God's side, and 
then won't live up. — Dr. W. Bishop Johnson. 
Influence.— That which the fountain sends forth, returns 
again to the fountain. — Longfellow. 

Every person represents something, stands for 
something. At least, he represents a value 
antecedently created in his own character. 

— Rev. Huntington. 
Nothing fails of its end; out of sight sinks the stone 
In the deep sea of time, but the circles sweep on, 
Till the low-rippled murmurs along the shores run, 
And the dark and dead waters leap glad in the sun. 

— /. G. Whittier. 
The impression which every speaker, whether 
on the platform or in conversation, makes on his 
fellows, is the moral resultant, not of what he 
says, but of all that he has grown up to be, 

— Mathews. 

No thought, no word, no act of man ever dies. 
They are as immortal as his own soul. 

Somewhere in this world he will meet their 
fruits in part; somewhere in the future life he will 
meet their gathered harvest. — Christian Weekly. 



72 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



I shot an arrow into the air, 

It fell to earth, I knew not where. 

* * * * * " * 

I breathed a song into the air, 

It fell on earth, I knew not where. 

* * * * * * 

Long, long afterward, in an oak, 
I found the arrow, still uubroke; 
And the song, from beginning to end; 
I found again in the heart of a friend. 

— H. W. Longfellow . 
" Influence is the power we exert over others 
by our thoughts, words, and actions." 

No man should live in this nineteenth century 
without making his influence felt around the 
globe —Sam I J. Mills. 

An influence not only lives forever, but it 
keeps on growing as long as it lives. 

— Christian Weekly. 

Our many deeds, the thoughts that we have thought, 

They go out from us thronging every hour; 

And in them all is folded up a power 

That on the earth doth move them to and fro; 

And mighty are the marvels they have wrought 

In hearts we know not, and may never know. 

— F. W. Fader. 

Injustice.— Thrice is he armed who hath his quarrel 
just, and but naked he, though clothed in steel, 
whose conscience with injustice is corrupted. 

— Shakespeare. 

innocence. — 

'Tis doubly vile, when, but to prove your art 
You fix an arrow in a blameless heart. — Pope. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



73 



O, keep me innocent ! Make others great. 

— Queen Caroline Matilda, of Denmark. 
Instaneity.— Went to pieces all at once, 

All at once, and nothing first, 

Just as bubbles when they burst. — Holmes. 

Instinct. — 

Reason, however able, cool at best, 
Cares not for service, or but serves when pressed, 
But honest instinct comes a volunteer. — Pope. 
Intelligence.— The intelligence of the people is the se- 
curity of the nation. — Daniel Webster. 
Intelligence and courtesy not always are combin'd; 
Often in a wooden house a golden room we find. 

— Longfellow. 
Intention.— Not always action shows the man: we find 
Who does a kindness, is not therefore kind. 

— Pope. 

" Hell is paved over with good intentions." 
An oven that is always heating up, but never 
cooks anything. 

— Voltaire's criticism upon La Harpe. 

Men are judged not by their intentions, but by 
the result of their actions. — Lord Chesterfield. 

The wisest sovereigns sometimes err like pri- 
vate men. 

A royal hand has sometimes laid the sword ot 
chivalry upon a worthless shoulder. 

ijC 5fc 5^ ♦ "V 5^ 

What then ? Kings do their best, — and they and we 
Must answer for the intent, and not the event. — Scott. 
Intimacy.— " Be kind to all; be intimate with few; 

And may the few be well chosen." 



74 



the composer's friend. 



Irresolution.—" He went to Palestine to kill a Turk, and 
came back with a notion." 

" Like the French monarch who marched up 
the hill, and then marched down again." 

Jealousy. — 

" No poison spreads so fast as jealousy." 
But, oh! what damned minutes tells he o'er, 
Who dotes, yet doubts; suspects, yet strongly loves. 

Trifles light as air, are to the jealous 
Confirmations strong as proofs of holy writ. 

—Shakespeare. 

" Give me all the pain that man is heir to, but 
keep me from jealousy." 

Jewels.— Jewels are baubles; 'tis a sin 

To care for such unfruitful things. — Holmes. 

Joy.— 

And even wdiile Fashion's brightest arts decoy, 
The heart, distrusting, asks if this be joy. 

— Oliver Goldsm ith . 
* ' How grand and true in the belief 

That the joy which comes after grief 

Is grander and never so brief 

As other joys." 

Judgment.— 

'Tis with our judgments, as our watches, none 
Go just alike, yet each believes his own. — Pope. 

Just, The.— Peace to the just man's memory; let it grow 

greener with years, and blossom through the 

flight of ages. — Bryant. 

The path of the just is as a shining light, 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



75 



which shineth more and more unto the perfect 
day. 

****** 
Blessings are on the head of the just. 

l|C 2fC 2$C 2jC jjf 

No evil shall happen to the just. 

* * * * * # 

There is not a just man on earth. 

* * * * * * 

The just shall live by his faith. 

* * * * * 

The way of the just is uprightness. 

— The Bible. 

Justice.— Be thrifty, not covetous ; therefore give thy 
need, thine honor, and thy friend his due. 

— Geo. Herbert 
Where justice calls, 'tis cruelty to save; 
And 'tis the law's good nature hangs the knave. 

—Pope. 

" The dark shall be light, 

And the wrong made right, 
And Bertram's right and Bertram's might, 
Shall meet on Ellengowan'"s height." 
" Its a very good rule in all things of life, 
When judging a friend or a brother, 
Not to look at the question alone on one side; 
But always turn to the other. 
We are apt to be selfish in all our views, 
In the jostling, headlong race, 
And so, to be right, ere you censure a man, 
Just ' put yourself in his place. ' ' ' 

Kindness.— Kindness by secret sympathy is tied; 

For noble souls in nature are allied. 

— Dry den. 



76 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



" Little drops of rain brighten the meadows, 
and little acts of kindness brighten the world." 
In nature there is no blemish but the mind, 
None can be call'd deform' d but the unkind. 

—Pope. 

Kindness has resistless charms; 
All things else but weakly move; 
Fiercest anger it disarms, 
And clips the wings of flying love. 

— Earl of Rochester. 
" Be kind to all; be intimate with few; 

And may the few be well chosen." 
A word will tame the high spirit, a look touch 
the warm heart, a kind act be repaid with one 
still kinder. — Louisa M. Alcoit. 

The milk of human kindness, like oil on an 
axle, lightens the load and eases life's heavy bur- 
dens. — A. A. Lason. 
Kind wishes and good deeds — they make not poor; 
They'll home again, full laden, to thy door. 

— Richatd H. Dana. 
' ' Count that day lost whose low decending sun 
Finds from thy hand no kindly action done." 
" His wit in the combat, as gentle as bright, 
Never carried a heart stain away on its blade " 
Never to blend our pleasure or our pride 
With sorrow to the meanest thing that feels. 

— Wordsworth. 

A soft answer turneth away wrath ; but griev- 
ous words stir up anger. — The Bible. 

Kind words are balm to the soul. They oil 
up the entire machinery of life, and keep it in 
good running order. — Anon. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



77 



Good humor can prevail, 

When airs, and nights, and scolding fail. — Pope. 
A kind word is an easy obligation ; but not 
to speak ill requires only our silence, which costs 
us nothing. — Tillotson. 

Gentle words are never lost, 
However small their seeming; 
Sunny rays of love are they, 
O'er our pathways gleaming. 

— Treasure Trove. 
Words of kindness we have spoken 
May, w T hen we have passed away, 
Heal, perhaps, a spirit broken, 
Guide a brother led astray. — Hag en. 
Knowledge.— Knowledge is power. — Bacon. 

He that increaseth knowledge increaseth sor- 
row. — The Bible. 

Knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to 
heaven. — Shakespeare. 
Oh ! be wiser thou ! 

Instructed that true knowledge leads to love. 

— Wordsworth. 
Let knowledge grow from more to more, 
But more of reverence in us dwell; 
That mind and soul according well 
May make one music as before. — Tennyson. 
' 1 Behold we know not anything. 

I can but trust that good shall fall 
At last — far off, at last to all, 

And every winter change to spring. 
So runs my dream, but what am I ? 

An infant crying in the night 
An infant crying for the light, 

And with no language but a cry." 



78 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Labor.— Labor is the price of all high excellence. 

- — Mathews, 
In all labor there is profit. — The Bible. 
Labor is the true alchemist which beats out in 

patient transmutation the baser metals into gold. 

— Punshon. 

Work for some good, be it ever so slowly; 
Cherish some flower, be it ever so lowly; 
Labor, all labor, is noble and holy. 

— Mrs. Fra?ices S. Osgood. 

" It is the heart, the inspiring motive, not the 
calling, that degrades. The mechanic may be as 
highminded as the poet ; the day laborer as the 
artist." 

In this life there is no great excellence with- 
out great labor. — Mathews. 
Laborer, The.— The laborer is worthy of his hire. * * * 
The sleep of the laboring man is sweet. 

— The Bible. 

Language —Every language is a temple, in which the 
soul of those who speak it is enshrined. — Holmes. 

Laughter— All fools have still an itching to deride, 

And fain would be upon the laughing side. 

—Pope. 

Law.— " What is law itself, but old, established custom ? 
* * * All things resolve in custom." 
No man e'er felt the halter draw 
With good opinion of the law. 

— -John Trumbull. 



the; composer's friend 



79 



" The good needs fear no law, — 
It is his safety, and the bad man's awe." 

A good law without execution is like an un- 
performed promise. — Jeremy Taylor. 
(See Punishment.) 

Learned Fools.— Bookful blockheads, ignorantly read, 

With loads of learned lumber in their 
head. — Pope. 

Learning.—" Learning makes a man fit company for 
himself:" 

The chief art of learning is to attempt but lit- 
tle at a time. — John Locke. 
Love seldem haunts the breast where learning lies. 

And Venus sets ere Mercury can rise. 

* * # * * * 

A little learning is a dang'rous thing; 
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring. 
There, shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, 
And drinking largly sobers us again.- Pope. 
" Can speak Greek as easily as pigs squeak." 
Lending.— A good man showeth favor and lendeth. 

—The Bible. 

Liberty.—" God grants liberty only to those who love it, 

and are always ready to guard and defend it." 
Life.— I^ife is a leaf of paper white 

Whereon each one of us may write 

His word or two, and then comes night. — Lowell. 

That man lives twice who lives the first life 
well. — Rotit. Herrick. 
On life's vast ocean diversely we sail; 
Reason, the card, but passion is the gale. — Pope. 



So 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



" Life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill to- 
gether." 

' ' Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale 

Vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man." 
" Let your life be like a snowflake, which leaves 
a mark, but not a stain." 

For a living dog is better than a dead lion. 

—The Bible. 
" A beautiful life ends not in death." 
We live in the past by a knowledge of its his- 
tory, and in the future by hope and anticipation. 

— Daniel Webster. 
Life hath its May, and all is mirthful then. 

— Scott. 

The truest end of life is to know the life that 
never ends. — Wm. Penn. 

Life is real ! Life is earnest ! * * * 
Life hath quick-sands, — life hath snares! 
Care and age come unawares. * * 
Tell me not in mournful numbers, 
Life is but an empty dream ! * * 
Our days are covered o'er with grief, 
And sorrows neither few nor brief 
Veil all in gloom. * * * 

Our little life is but a gust 
That bends the branches of thy tree, 
And trails its blossoms into dust. * * 
Our lives are rivers, gliding free 
To that unfathomed, boundless sea, 
The silent grave. * * * 

And he who has not learned to know 
How false its sparkling bubbles show, 



* 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



8l 



How bitter are the drops of woe, 
With which its brim may overflow, 
He has not learned to live. — Longfellow. 
" We toil through pain and wrong, 
And fight and fly; 

We love, we lose, and then ere long 

Stone dead we lie. 

O, Life! is all thy song 

Endure and die ? ' ' 

But ah! what mortal lives of bliss secure, 
How short a space our worldly joys endure. 

All forms that perish other forms supply 
(By turns we catch the vital breath, and die.) 
Like bubbles on the sea of Matter born, 
They rise; they break, and to that sea return. 

— Pope. 

To the strong hand and strong head, the capa- 
cious lungs and vigorous frame, fall, and will al- 
ways fall, the heavy burdens; and where the 
heavy burdens fall, the great prizes fall, too. 

— Laws of Life. 

Not what we would, but what we must, 
Makes up the sum of living; 
Heaven is no more nor less than just 
In taking and in giving. — R. H. Stoddard. 

Life is not measured by the time we live. 

— Geo. Crabbe, 

He most lives, who thinks most, feels the no- 
blest, acts the best. — Bailey. 

God demands an account of the past ; that we 
must render hereafter. He demands an improve- 



82 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



ment of the present, and this we must render 
now. — W. Jay. 

" Desire not to live long, but well; 

How long we live, not years, but actions, tell." 

Hush, my spirit, cease repining; 

"Tis a verdict old, and true; 

Life is false and death is certain — 

A nurse's tale, a tax that's due. — Ncwsom. 

Were this frail world our only rest, 
Living or dying, none w 7 ere blest. 

— -James Montgomery . 

The course of human life is changefull still, 

As is the fickle wind and wandering rill. — Anon. 

Life is made up, not of great sacrifices or du- 
ties, but of little things in which smiles and kind- 
nesses and small obligations, given habitually, are 
what win and preserve the heart and secure com- 
fort. — Sir Humphery Davy. 

Things should never be done by halves : if 
right, do them boldly ; if wrong, leave them un- 
done. Every day is a little life, and our whole 
life is but the day repeated. — Locke. 
" Life, like a door of manicolored glass, 
Stains the white radiance of eternity, 
Until death tramples it to fragments." 
A sacred burden is the life ye bear, 
Look on it, lift it, bear it solemnly, 
Stand up and walk beneath it steadfastly. 
Fail not for sorrow, falter not for sin, 
But onward, upward, till the goal ye win. 

— Frances Anne Kemble. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



8.3 



" We are living, we are dwelling 
In a grand and noble time; 
In an age on ages telling, 
To be living is sublime." — 
So let us live, that if misfortune's blast 
Come like a whirlwind to our hearths at last, 
Sunbeams may break from some small spot of blue, 
To guide us safe life's dreary desert through. 

J. T. Fields. 

Man's feeble race what ills await! 

Labor, and Penury, the rocks of Pain, 

Disease, and sorrow's weeping train 

And Death — sad refuge from the storms of fate. 

— Gray. 

Heed how thou livest. Do not act by day 

Which from the night shall drive thy peace away. 

In months of sun so live that months of rain 

Shall still be happy. Evermore restrain 

Evil and cherish good, so shall there be 

Another and a happier life for thee. — Whittier. 

Look, how they come, — a mingled crowd 

Of bright and dark but rapid days, 

* * * * * * 

And then, should no dishonor lie 

Upon my head, when I am gray, 

Love yet shall watch my fading eye, 

And smooth the path of my decay. 

* * * * * So live, 

That when thy summons comes to join 

The innumerable caravan, which moves 

To that mysterious realm, where each shall take 

His chamber in the silent halls of death, 

Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night, 

Scourged to his dungeon; but sustained and soothed 

By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave 



8 4 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch 
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams. 

— William Cullen Bryant. 

Loquacity.— The lips of a fool will swallow up himself. * 
The fool's voice is known by multitude of 
words. — The Bible. 
His talk is like a stream which runs 
With rapid change from rocks to roses; 
It slips from politics to puns, 
It glides from Mahomet to Moses: 
Beginning with the laws that keep 
The planets in their radiant courses, 
And ending with some precept deep 
For skinning eels or shoeing horses. — Praed. 
(Said of a certain vicar,) 

Love.— Love deceives the best of womankind. — Pope. 
Love is blind and lovers cannot see. 

— Shakespeare. 

" Love conquers all things." 

" Love hides a multitude of faults." 

" Love knows no faults." 

" Love laughs at locksmiths." 

Man's love is of man's life a thing apart; 

'Tis woman's whole existence. — Byron. 

Man makes friendship a means and love an 
end. With woman it is the reverse. — J. S. Taylor 
I hold it true whate'er befall, 
I feel it when I sorrow most, 
'Tis better to have loved and lost 
Than never to have loved at all. 

— Tennyson. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



85 



All love is sweet — given or returned. — Shelley. 
Some Cupids kill with arrows, some with 
traps. — Shakespeare. 
Still so gently o'er me stealing, 
Mem'ry will bring back the feeling, 
Spite of all my grief revealing, 
That I love thee — that I dearly love thee still. 

— La. Somnambula. 
" Content to live unknown but not unloved." 
The course of true love did ne'er run smooth. * * 
Oppression, and sickness, and pain, 
Shall be to our true love like links to the chain. 

— Longfellow. 
Love seldom haunts the breast where learning lies, 
And Venus sets ere Mercury can rise. — Pope. 
O, lovers' eyes are sharp to see, 
And lovers' ears in hearing. * * * 
True love's the gift which God has given 
To man alone beneath the heaven. — Scott. 
When once the young heart of a maiden is stolen, 
The maiden herself will steal after it soon. * * 
A friendship that, like love, is warm; 
A love, like friendship, steady. * * * 
No, the heart that truty loves never forgets, 
But as truly loves on to the close! 
As the sunflower turns on her god, when he sets, 
The same look which she turned when he rose. 

— Mo 07 e. 

Happy the youth, and not unknown to fame, 
Whose heart has never felt a second flame. * * 
The power of herbs can other harms remove, 
And find a cure for every ill but love. 
For ills unseen what remedy is found ? 
Or who can probe the undiscover'd wound ? * * 
'Tis hard the elusive symptoms to explore. — Gray. 



86 the composer's friend. 

A mighty pain to love it is, 

And 'tis a pain to miss; 

But of all pains, the greatest pain 

Is to love but love in vain. * * * 

For aught that I could ever read, 

Could ever hear by tale or history, 

The course of true love never did run smooth. 

— Shakespeare. 

Luck.— Luck hates the slow, and loves the bold. 

— Lowell' 

You have only to get into the trade wind, and 
you will sail secure over the Pactolean sands. 

— Burke. 

There's a Divinity that shapes our ends, 
Rough hew them how we will. * * 
'Tis not in our stars, but in ourselves that we 

are underlings. — Shakespeare. 
There is a star for thee which burn'd, 
Its influence wanes, its course is turn'd. — Scott. 

Lust— And there's a lust in man no charm can tame. 

— Shakespeare. 

Lying.—" Lying rides on debt's back." 

The first of all gospels is this, that a lie can- 
not endure forever. — Carlyle. 

"And, after all, what is a lie ? 'Tis but the 
truth in masquerade." 

" A lie can travel round the world while the 
truth is getting on his horse." 

Dissimulation in youth is the forerunner of 
perfidy in old age. The path of falsehood is a 
perplexing maze. After the first departure from 



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87 



truth and sincerity it is not in our power to stop. 
One artifice invariably leads to another, till, as 
the intricacy of the labyrinth increases, we are 
left entangled in our snare. — Dr. Blair. 
Ye shall not lie one to another. * * * 
Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord ; 
but they that deal truly are His delight. * * 

The lips of truth shall be established forever, 
but a lying tongue is but for a moment. * * 

These things doth the Lord hate — a lying lip, 
and them that soweth discord among brethren. 

These * * * things doth the Lord hate; a 
lying tongue, and a false witness that speaketh 
lies. — The Bible. 
Maidens' Hearts.— Maidens' hearts are always soft. — Pope. 
When once the young heart of a maiden is stolen, 
The maiden herself will steal after it soon. — Moore. 
Majority.— One, with God and right, is a majority, 

— Fred. Douglass. 
Man— The proper study of mankind is man. 

**■'#-#* -X 

Alas, what wonder! Man's superior part 
Uncheck'd may rise, and climb from art to art. 

* -X- * -X- * -X- 

A being darkly wise, and rudely great. 

* * * * # * 

Men, some to quiet, some to public strife; 
But every lady would be queen for life. 

* * * # # # 

But grant, in public, men sometimes are shown, 
A woman's seen in private life alone. — Pope. 



88 THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 

Go, teach eternal Wisdom how to rule 
Then drop into thyself, and be a fool. 

Man was made the standing jest of heaven. 

In men, we various ruling passions find; 
In women, two almost divide the kind — 
* * * The love of pleasure, and the love 

of sway. * * * * 

Men, some to business, some to pleasure take; 

But every woman is at heart a rake. — Pope. 

" Man never is, but always to be blest." 

Poor moralist ! and what art thou ? 
A solitary fly! — Gray. 

M"en are the sport of circumstances, when 
The circumstances seem the sport of men. 

— By? on. 

Best men are moulded out of faults, 
and for the most part become much better Jor 
being a little bad. — Shakespeare. 
Manhood.— Quit yourselves like men. — The Bible. 
What the child admired, 
The youth endeavored and the man acquired. 

— Dry den. 

We must swim off, and not wait for some one 
to put cork under us. * * 

Don't flinch, flounder, fall, nor fiddle, but grap- 
ple like a man, and you will be a man. 

—John Todd, D.D. 
Manner.— Manner maketh man. — William of Wykeham. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



3 9 



Manners easily and rapidly mature into mor- 
als. — Horace Mann. 

God may forgive sins, but awkwardness has no 
forgiveness in heaven or earth. — Emerson. 
" A man's manners form his fortune." 
Good manners are made of petty sacrifices. 

— R. W. Emerson. 
What a man says or does is often an uncer- 
tain test of what he is. — It is the way in which he 
says or does it that furnishes the best index of his 
character. ***** 

Among strangers a good manner is the best 
letter of recommendation ; for a great deal de- 
pends upon first impressions. — Mathews. 

You had better return a dropped fan genteelly, 
than give a thousand pounds awkwardly. 

— Chesterfield in a letter to his Son. 
Marriage.— A young man married is a man that's mar- 
red. — Shakespeare. 
(See Wedlock.) 
Mediocrity.— Mediocre men often mistake aspiration for 
inspiration ; they have first-class ambition along 
with third-rate powers ; and these coming to- 
gether, make a most ill-matched pair of legs, 
which bear a man along awkwardly in his path 
of life, and expose him to endless mortifications. 

— Mathews. 

Merit.— We are apt to lavish our praise upon chance, 
while we are stingy in bestowing it upon merit. 

— Fred Douglass. 



9 o 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



'Tis great delight to laugh at some men's ways, 
But a much greater to give merit praise. * * * 
Beauties in vain their pretty eyes may roll; 
Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul. 

—Pope. 

Method.— The end must justify the means. — Shakespeare, 
For modes of faith let graceless zealots fight; 
His cant be wrong whose life is in the right. 

— Pope. 

Let us not argue that the end justifies the 
means, but let us seek to accomplish proper ends 
by justifiable means. — R. S. Smith. 

Mind, The.— As the eye is made for seeing, and the ear 
for hearing, so the human mind is formed for un- 
derstanding the phenomena of the material uni- 
verse. — John Tyndall. 

Strength of mind is exercise, not rest. — Pope. 

Misery— I was not always a man of woe. — Scott. 

Misfortunes. — 

When sorrows come, they come not in single spies 
But in battalions. — Shakespeare. 

Mistakes.— 

The wisest sovereigns sometimes err like private men, 
A royal hand has sometimes laid the sword of chivalry 
upon a worthless shoulder. 
* * * What then ? Kings do their best, — 
and they and we 
Must answer for the intent and not the event. — Scott. 
Money.— The love of money is the root of all evil. * * 
A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh 
merry ; but money answereth all things. * * * 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



91 



And the priests thereof teach for hire, and the 
prophets thereof divine for money. * * * 

Wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence. 

—The Bible. 
Gold thou mayst safely touch; but if it stick 
Unto thy hands, it woundeth to the quick. 

— Geo. Herbert. 

What female heart can gold despise ? — Gray. 

But whatever may be said of the dangers of 
riches, the dangers of poverty are ten fold 
greater. * * * * 

With it the pigmy in intellect becomes a giant 
in influence; without it the best informed man is 
but a dwarf in power. — Mathews. 

Whosoever has sixpence is sovereign over all 
men to the extent of that sixpence : commands 
cooks to feed him, philosophers to teach him, 
kings to mount guard over him, — to the extent 
of that sixpence. — Carlyle. 

It is money, or rather the want of it, which 
makes men workers. — Mathews. 

Money is a terrible blab ; she will betray the 
secrets of her owner, whatever he do to gag her. 
His virtues will creep out in her whisper ; his 
vices she will cry aloud at the top of her tongue. 

— Bulwer. 

The learned pate 

Ducks to the golden fool. — Shakespeare. 
To cry out against the universal craving and 
struggling for the good things of this world — 



9 2 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



for which money is a synonym — is to waste one's 
breath upon the air. * * * * * 

Money means a tight house, the warmest cloth- 
ing, the most nutritious food, the best medical at- 
tendance, books, music, pictures ; a good seat in 
the concert or lecture room, in the cars, and even 
in the church ; the ability to rest when weary in 
body or brain, and, above all, independence of 
thought. ***** 

Money is not only character, but it is power. 
It is not only for the comforts, but for the influ- 
ence they bring that riches are so intensely de- 
sired . — Mathews. 

The golden ass or golden bull 

Was English John, with his pockets full, 

Then at war by land and water, 

While beef and mutton, and other meat 

Were almost as dear as money to eat, 

And farmers reaped golden harvests of wheat 

At the Lord knows what per quarter. 

Gold, gold, gold, gold, 
Bright and yellow, hard and cold, 
Heavy to get, and light to hold, 
Hoarded, bartered, bought and sold. 
Spurn 'd by the young but hngg'd by the old 
To the very verge of the churchyard mould. 

— Hood. 

Cursed be the gold and silver, which persuade 
Weak man to follow far fatiguing trade; 
The lily, peace, outshines the silver store, 



the composer's friend. 93 

And life is dearer than the golden ore, 

Yet money tempts us o'er the desert brown 

To every distant mart and wealthy town. — Scott. 

Believe not much them that affect to despise 
riches; for they despise them that despair of 
them. — Bacon. 

(Virgil's harpies sought to excite disgust at 
the banquet which they themselves were eager to 
devour.) 

Monotony.— The very best dishes may sometimes be- 
come insipid, if always served with the same 
sauce. — Max CfRell. 

" A constant dropping day by da}', 
Wears the hardest stone away." 

Moon, The.— Most welcome to the lovers' sight, 
Glitters that pure emerging light; 
For prattling poets say 
That sweetest is the lovers' walk, 
And tenderest is their murmured talk, 
Beneath its gentle ray. — Bryant 

Morn.— With rosy hands unbarred the gates of light. 

— Shakespeare. 

Mortality. — 

That all we love, and all we hate, 
That all we hope, and all we fear, 

Each mood of mind, and turn of fate, 
Must end in dust and silence here. 

— Macaulay. 

" The spider's most attenuated thread is cord, 
is cable, to man's slender tie upon earthly exist- 
ence — it breaks at every breeze." 



94 THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 

Mother— All that I am or hope to be, I owe to my 

mother. — Abraham Lincoln^ 

A kiss from my mother made me a painter. 

— Benj. West. 

Paradise is at the feet of mothers. — Mohammed. 

When Napoleon was asked what France was in 
need of more than anything else, he replied, 
" More mothers." 

The mother in her office holds the key of the 
soul; and she it is who stamps the coin of char- 
acter, and makes the being, who would be a sav- 
age but for her gentle care, a Christian man. 

— Anon. 

There is, 

In all this cold and hollow world, no fount 
Of deep, strong, deathless love, save that within 
A mother's heart. — Mrs. Felicia Hemans. 

Moving.— A rolling stone gathers no moss. 

— Publius Syrus. 
Three moves are equal to a fire. — Fj-anklin. 

Most strength the moving principle requires: 
Active its task, it prompts, impels, inspires. 

—Pope. 

Multitude.— Not single spies, but in battalions. 

— Shakespeare. 

Music— When Music, heavenly maid, was young, 

While yet in early Greece, she sung. — Collins. 

Music resembles poetry, in each 

Are nameless graces which no methods teach, 

And which a master hand alone can reach. 

— Pope. 



THE composer's friend. 



" Oft have I heard of music such as thine, 
The wedded melody of lute and voice, 
Immortal strains that made my soul rejoice, 
And wake to inner harmonies divine." 

' ' Music has taught 
Love's lesson more and more." 

See deep enough, and you see musically. 

— Carlyle 

Music is the food of love. — K?iott. 

Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast, 
To soften rocks, or bend the knotted oak. 

— Congreve 

Mutability. — 

Some praise at morning what they blame at night; 
But always think the last opinion right. — Pope. 

The hottest horse will oft be cool, 

The dullest will show fire; 
The friar will often play the fool, 

The fool will play the friar.- Scott. 

The world goes up and the world goes down, 
And the sunshine follows the rain; 

And yesterday's sneer and yesterday's frown, 
Can never come over again. — Kingsley. 

How slow, how sure, how swift, 

The sands within each glass^ 

The brief, illusive moments pass. — Stedman. 

The molten gold returns to clay, 

The polished diamond melts away; 

All is altered, all is flown, 

Naught stands fast but truth alone. — Scott. 

One by one the sands are flowing, 
One by one the moments fall; 



9 6 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Some are coming, some are going: 
Do not strive to grasp them all. 

— Adelaide Procter. 

Find, if you can, in what you cannot change, 
Manners with fortunes, humors turn with climes, 
Tenets with books, and principles with times. 

—Pope. 

Quick is the succession of human events; the 
cares of to-day are seldom the cares of to-morrow. 

— William Cowper. 

Weep not that the world changes — did it keep 
A stable, changeless state, 'twere cause indeed to weep. 
(See Change.) — Bryant. 

Name.— Good name in man or woman is the immediate 
jewel of their souls. — Shakespeare. 

" Charmed with the foolish whistling of a 
name." 

A good name is rather to be chosen than great 
riches. * * * * 

Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of 
you. — The Bible. 

I may walk in the shadow of a great name, and 
be shielded somewhat from the hardships of life, 
but every man, or woman, must make his own 
name for himself. — -John Mercer Langston. 

•Who steals my purse steals trash; but he that 
niches from me my good name robs me of that 
which not enriches him, and makes me poor 
indeed . — Shakespeare. 
(See Reputation. ) 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



97 



Nature — 

Yes, nature's road must ever be preferr'd; 
Reason is here no guide, but still a guard. 

jy" ' ife' sfc * 4 s * * 

First follow Nature, and your judgment frame 
By her just standard, which is still the same. 

* * * $ * ^ 

All Nature is but Art, unknown to thee; 

All Chance, Direction, which thou canst not see. 

— Pope. 

Necessity.— Necessity — thou best of peacemakers, 

As well as surest prompter of invention. 

— Anon. 

Necessity knows no law. — Publius Syrus. 
Necessity is the mother of invention. — Franck. 
Ability and necessity dwell near each other. 

— Pythagoras. 

The wants of society raise thousands to distinc- 
tion who are not possessed of uncommon endow- 
ments. — Mathews. 

Night. — Soft stillness and the night become the touches 
of sweet harmony. — Shakespeare. 

Now. — Now is the constant ticking from the clock of 
time. Now is the watchword of the wise. Now 
is the banner of the prudent. Keep this little 
word always in the mind when you have work to 
do, remembering that only Now is yours, that 
Then may never be. — -Johnson. 

Obedience.— No principle is more noble, as there is none 
more holy, than that of true obedience. 

— Henty Giles. 



9 S 



the composer's friend. 



Obstacles.—" A smooth sea never makes a skillful mar- 
iner." 

The greater the difficulty, the more glory in 
surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputa- 
tions through storms and tempests. — Ano.i. 

Kites rise against, not with the wind. * * * 
No man ever worked his passage anywhere in a 
dead calm. — Neal. 

It cannott be too often repeated that it is no 
helps, but obstacles, not facilities, but difficulties, 
that make men. * * * Men can no more be 
made without trials, than bricks can be made 
without fire. — Mathews. 
Occupation — 

Here then the truth; 'Tis heaven each passion sends, 
And different men direct to different ends. — Pope. 
(See Adaptability.) 
Office.— A public office is a public trust. — A. S. Hewitt. 
Great offices will have great talents. — Cowper. 
We let the tender office long engage 
To rock the cradle of reposing age. — Pope. 
Opinions.—" Opinions make men." 

" What I admire in Columbus is not his having 
discovered a world, but his having gone to search 
for it on the faith of an opinion." — Anon. 

" It is much easier to hang on the coat tail of 
popular belief, than think for yourself." 
Some ne'er advance a judgment of their own, 
But catch the spreading notion of the town. 
They reason and conclude by precedent, 
And own stale nonsense which they ne'er invent. 

— Pope. 



the composer's friend. 



99 



He that complies against his will, 
Is of his own opinion still. — Sam' I. Butler. 
Opportunity.— " We must not only strike the iron while 
it is hot, but strike it till it is made hot." 

Give me a fulchrum and a place to stand, and I 
will move the world. — Archi?nedes. 

There is a star for thee which burned, 
Its influence wanes, its course is turned. — Scott. 
There is a tide in the affairs of men, 
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; 
Omitted, all the voyage of their life 
Is bound in shallows, and in miseries. 
On such a full sea are we now afloat; 
And we must take the current when it serves, 
Or lose our ventures. — Shakespeare. 
Of all sad words of tongue or pen, 
The saddest are these, 44 It might have been." 

— Whittier. 

Do not wait for extraordinar} T opportunities for 
good actions, but make use of common ones. A 
long-continued walk is better that a short flight. 
(See Chance.) — Goethe. 

Order. - 

Order is heaven's first law, 

:j: ifr . ;jj $i * jjs 

But as He fram'd the whole the whole to bless, 
On mutual wants built mutual happiness: 
So from the first eternal Order ran, 
And creature link'd to creature, man to man. 

—Pope. 

Out=Door Exercise.— 

" O, the out-of-door blessings of leisure for me, 
Health, riches, and joy — it includes them all 
three." — Anon. 



100 THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 

Pain.— Our sincerest laughter with some pain is fraught. 

— Shelley. 

Passion.— << A fit of passion may give you cause to 
mourn all your life." 

Passions, though selfish, if their means be fair, 
'List under reason, and deserve her care. 

* * * * * * 

But all subsists by elemental strife; 
And passions are the elements of life. 

On life's vast ocean diversely we sail, 
Reason, the card, but passion is the gale. 

j|c ifi j}c * s|s s|c 

What reason weaves, by passion is undone. 
****** 

Nature is its mother, Habit is its nurse. 

****** 

And hence one Master Passion in the breast, 
Like Aaron's serpent, swallows up the rest. 

—Pope. 

Past, The— The past is our own — no fiend can take that 
from us. — Kingsley. 

Leave me to watch and weep 

O'er the sad memories of departed joys. 

— Macaulay. 

Of all the sad words of tongue or pen, 

The saddest are these, " It might have been." 

— Whittiet . 

Patience.— Beware the fury of a patient man. — Dryden. 

1 1 Patience and the passage of time 
Accomplish more than strength or anger." 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



IOI 



Be patient, be patient; for patience hath power 
To~ ward us in danger, like mantle in shower. 

— Scott. 

To bear is to conquer our fate. — Campbell. 

To be resigned when ills betide ; 
Patient, when favors are denied. — Cotton. 

"That one who can work right on, quietly 
waiting for recognition, if it come: if not, yet 
right on, is the true nobleman." 

Contemplate your subject long. It will grad- 
ually unfold itself, till a sort of electric spark con- 
vulses the brain for a moment, and sends a glow 
of irritation to the heart. Then comes the luxury 
of genius. — Buffon. 
Patriotism.— 
" He who maintains his country's laws 
Alone is great; or he who dies in the good cause." 

" He who loves not his country, can love noth- 
ing." 

' ' God grants liberty only to those who love it, 
and are always ready to guard and defend it. ' ' 

Breathes there the man with soul so dead, 
Who never to himself hath said, 
' ' This is my own, my native land ! ' ' 
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd, 
As home his footsteps he hath turn'd, 
From wandering on a foreign strand ! 
If such there breathe, go, mark him well; 
For him no Minstrel raptures swell; 
High though his titles, proud his name, 
Boundless his wealth, as wish can claim; 
Despite those titles, power, and pelf, 



102 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



The wretch, concentred all in self, 
Iviving, shall forfeit fair renown, . 
And, doubly dying, shall go down 
To the vile dust, from whence he sprung, 
Unwept, unhonored, and unsung. — Scott. 

Peace.— Peace hath her victories, no less renowned 
than war. — Milton. 

Perfection.— 

No human quality is so well wove 

In warp and woof, but there's some flaw in it. 

— Scott. 

There are serpents to coil ere the flowers are up, 
There is a poison drop in man's purest cup. 

— Lydia H. Sigourney. 

Our sincerest laughter 

With some pain is fraught. — Shelley. 

'Tis true, perfection none must hope to find 
In all this world, much less in woman-kind. 

* * * * * * 

Whoever thinks a faultless piece to see, 
Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e'er shall be. 

—Pope. 

Perpetuity.— 

You may break, you may shatter the vase if you will, 
But the scent of the roses will cling round it still. 

— Moore. 

Perse ve ran. e.— " Water falling day by day, 

Wears the hardest rock away." 

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but 
in rising every time we fall. — Confucius. 

Not only strike while the iron is hot, but make 
it hot by striking. — Oliver Cromwell. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



" Press on! our life is not a dream, — 
Though often such its mazes seem. 
We were not born to live at ease — 
Ourselves alone to aid and please." 

Persistence.— Persistent people begin their success where 
others end in failure. — Eggleston. 
(See Perseverance.) 
Philosophy.— philosophy will clip an angel's wings. 

— Keats. 

Physical Strength.— But of the two, a weak mind in a her- 
culean frame is better than a giant mind in a 
crazy constitution. — Mathews. 
Pictures.—" A picture is a poem without words." 

" A room without pictures is like a room with- 
out windows." 

Pictures are loop-holes of escape to the soul, 
leading to other scenes and other spheres. Pic- 
tures are consolers of loneliness; they are books, 
they are histories and sermons, which we can read 
without the trouble of turning over the leaves. 

— Rev. Dr. Dow?iing. 
Pity.— Of all the paths that lead to a woman's love, 

Pity's the straightest. — Beau and Fletch. 
Pleasantness.— Fair laughs the morn, and soft the zephyr 

blows. — Gray. 
Pleasure.— The art of pleasing consists in being pleased. 

— Hazlitt. 

O, precious evenings! All too swiftly sped.- — 
Longfellow, on Mrs. Kemble' s readi?igs from Shake- 
speare. 



104 THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 

He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man. 

- —The Bible. 

The generous heart should scorn a pleasure 
which gives others pain. — -/as. Tomsott. 

Life hath its May, and all is mirthful then. 

— Scott. 

' ' Blessed is he who hath not trod the ways 
Of secular delights, nor learned the lore 
Which loftier minds are studious to abhor." 

Pleasures are ever in our hands or eyes; 

And when, in act, they cease, in prospect rise. 

* * * * * * 

Reason's whole pleasure, all the joys of sense, 
Lie in three words, health, peace and competence, 

* * * * * 

Pleasure or wrong, or rightly understood, 
Our greatest evil, or our greatest good. — Pope. 

Poetry.— And glory of the stars and sun; — 

And these and poetry are one. — Bryant. 
Politeness. — 

' ' Politeness is to do and say 
The kindest things in the kindest way." 

Courtesies of a small and trivial character are 
the ones that strike deepest to the grateful and 
appreciating heart. — Henry Clay. 
Poor, The— All brethren of the poor do hate him. * * 
Rob not the poor because he is poor. 

— The Bible. 

Bond damns the poor, and hates them from his 

heart. * * 
The grave Sir Gilbert holds it for a rule, 
That every man in want is knave or fool. — Pope. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto 
the Iyord, and that which he hath given, will he 
pay him again. * * * 

For ye have the poor with you always, and 
whensoever ye will, ye may do them good. 

— The Bible. , 

Position. — 

'Tis from high life high characters are drawn; 
A saint in crepe is twice a saint in lawn. — Pope. 

Possession.— The lovely toy, so fiercely sought, 

Hath lost its charm by being caught. 

— Pope. 

Possibility.— <i There are men whose can't is simply 
can't." 

' 4 Impossible " is a word to be found only in 
the dictionary of fools. — Napoleon. 

Of all sad words of tongue or pen, 

The saddest are these, " It might have been. ' ' 

— Whittier. 

Poverty.— This mournful truth 

Is ev'ry where confessed: 
Slow rises worth when 

By poverty depressed. — -Johnson. 
I only ask that fortune send 
A little more than I can spend. — Holmes. 

' ' How many people are dull or unsociable from 
the secret irritation of want of money. How r 
many bright intelligencies are diverted from their 
highest development from the same cause ! " 

Chill penury repressed their noble rage, 
And froze the genial current of the soul. 

— Gray* 



io6 



the; composer s friknd. 



"When I was running about this, town a very 
poor fellow, I was a great arguer for the advan- 
tages of poverty. Sir, all the arguments which 
are brought to represent poverty as no evil, show 
it to be evidently a great evil." 

The poor man is hourly beset by troops of 

temptations which the rich man never knows. 
###### 

Poverty is a condition which no man should 
accept, unless it is forced upon him as an inexor- 
able necessity, or as the alternative of dishonor. * * 
Resolve not to be poor; whatever you have, spend 
less. Poverty is a great enemy to human happi- 
ness; it certainly destroys liberty, and it makes 
some virtues impracticable and others extremely 
difficult. It lowers a man in self-respect, places 
him at the mercy of his tradesmen and his ser- 
vant, and renders him a slave in many respects; 
for he can no longer call himself his own master, 
nor boldly look the world in the face. — Mathews. 
(See Poor.) 

Power.— What is grandeur, what is power ? — 
Heavier toil superior pain. — Gray. 

Practicality.— Practical men cut the knots they cannot 
untie, and, overleaping all logical preliminaries, 
come at once to a conclusion. * * * 

It is indeed wonderful with what slender quali- 
fications one may, under favorable circumstances, 
attain success, and even fill a large space in so- 
ciety. * * * Worldly success de- 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIKND. 



I07 



pends less on the superiority of one's intellectual 
powers, than on the peculiar adaptation to the 
work in hand. A moderate talent, well applied, 
will achieve more useful results, and impose more 
on mankind, than minds of the highest orders, 
whose temper is too fine for the mechanical parts 
of a profession. * * * Many a young 

man is so exquisitely cultivated as to be good for 
nothing but to be kept in a show-case as a speci- 
men of what the most approved system of educa- 
tion can do. — Mathews. 
Praise. — 

To what base ends, and by what abject ways, 
Are mortals urg'd through sacred lust of praise. 

i|< 5[C ~^f. 5jC JjC >[C 

Dare nobly then: but conscious of your trust, 
As ever warm and bold, be ever just. 
Nor count applause in these degenerate days: 
The villian's censure is extorted praise. — Pope. 
Damn with faint praise. — Pope. 
Praise of God.— He praiseth God best who serveth and 
obeyeth Him most; the life of thankfulness con- 
sists in the thankfulness of the life. — W. Burkitt. 
" There is no tree, that rears its crest, 

No fern or flower, that cleaves the sod, 
No bird that sings above its nest; 

But tries to speak the name of God, 
And dies when it has done its best." 
Precedent. — 

Some ne'er advance a judgment of their own, 
But catch the spreading notion of the Town. 
They reason and conclude by precedent, 
And own stale nonsense which they ne'er invent. 

—Pope. 



io8 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Preparation.— " Hope the best, get ready for the worst, 
and take what God sends. ' ' 

Here's a sigh for those who love me, 

And a smile for those who hate; 
And whatever sky's above me, 
Here's a heart for any fate. — Geo. G. Byron. 

Present, The— Do to-day thy nearest duty. — Goethe. 
Prevention.—" An ounce of prevention is worth a pound 
of cure." 

Principle.—" Principles have achieved more victories than 
horsemen or chariots." 

A man's country is not a certain area of moun- 
tains, rivers and woods, but it is a principle. 

— Geo. W. Curtis. 

Profession, Choice of— " To find one's self business, I am 
persuaded, is the great art of life." 
To know 

That which before us lies in daily life 
Is the prime wisdom. — Milton. 

If there is one fact demonstrated by experience, 
it is that no man can succeed in a calling for 
which providence did not intend him. * * To 
no other calling is failure in life so frequently to 
be traced as to a mistaken calling. — Mathews. 
Promptness.— " Crises come, the seizing of which is tri- 
umph, the neglect of which is ruin." 
Prophecy.— Know then thyself, presume not God to scan. 

—Pope. 

Proverbs.— " Proverbs are the concentrated wisdom of 
the age." 



the; composer's friend. 109 

Providence. — 

There's a divinity that shapes our ends, 
Rough-hew them how we will. — Shakespeare. 

God reigns, and the government at Washington 
still lives. — -fas. A. Garfield. 

Who finds not Providence all good and wise, 
Alike in what it gives, and what denies ? — Pope. 

Prudence.—" There is nothing so imprudent as excessive 
prudence." 

The prudent man looketh well to his going. 

—The Bible. 

Public Offences.—" Public offences need public reproof." 
Punishment. — 

No man e'er felt the halter draw, 

With good opinion of the law .—Trumbnll. 

Purpose. — it is the iron rule in our day to require an 
object and a purpose in life. 

— Nathaniel Hawthorne. 
Nothing fails of its end. Out of sight sinks the stone, 
In the deep sea of Time, but the circles sweep on, 
Till the low, rippled murmurs along the shores run, 
And the dark and dead waters leap glad in the sun. 

— J. G. Whittier. 

Quarrel.— 1 never had a quarrel with a person in my life. 
— The Duke of Wellington, in a letter to a friend. 
Thrice is he armed who hath his quarrel just, 
and but naked he, though clothed in steel, whose 
conscience with injustice is corrupted. 

— Shakespeare. 
More cat fights more kittens. — Ben. Butler. 



no THE composer's friend. 

Quietude.— But quiet to quick bosoms is a hell. 

— Shakespeare. 
Not a drum was heard, nor a funeral note. 

— Si? John Moore. 

Reading.— Reading makes a full man, writing an exact 
man, and conversation a ready man. — Bacon. 

No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor is 
any pleasure so lasting. — Montague. 
Reality.— No endeavor is in vain, 

The reward is in the doing, 
And the rapture of pursuing 
Is the prize the vanquished gain. 

— He?i?y W. Longfellow. 

Reason.— Thou wert my guide, philosopher, and 
friend. — Pope. 

Philosophy will clip an angel's wings. — Keats. 

I would not always reason. * * * 

I would make 

Reason my guide, but she should sometimes sit 
Patiently by the wayside, while I traced 
The mazes of pleasant wilderness 
Around me. 

She should be my counselor, but not my tyrant. 

— Bryant. 

What reason weaves, by passion is undone. 

*k *K *r* *f* *r* 

Two principles in human nature reign, 
Self-love to urge, and reason to restrain. 

* * * * * 4 

Self-love, the spring of motion, acts the soul; 
Reason's comparing balance rules the whole. — Pope. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. Ill 

Yes, nature's road must ever be preferr'd; 
Reason is here no guide, but still a guard. 

^ * * >k ^ * 

Let reason's rule your strong desires abate, 
Nor please too lavishly your gentle mate. 

These thoughts he fortified with reasons still, 
For none want reasons to confirm their will. 

^ sfi >J< ;j; 

Reason, however able, c^ol at best, 

Cares not for service, or but serves when pressed. 

But honest instinct comes a volunteer. 

sj: ^ ^ ^ y'fi 

If once right reason drives that cloud away, 
Truth breaks upon us with resistless day. — Pope. 

Reciprocation.— (See Fraternization. ) 

Remembrance.— He that forgets his friend, is ungrateful 
to him; but he that forgets his God, is ungrateful 
to himself. — -John Bunyan. 

Repentance. — A saint in crepe is twice a saint in lawn. 

— Pope. 

Reproof. — 

Fear not the anger of the wise to raise; 
Those best can bear reproof, who merit praise. 

—Pope. 

Reputation.— " Soar not too high to fall, but stoop to 
rise." 

A good name is better than precious ointment. 
(See Name. ) — The Bible. 

Resolution.— A strong, persistent resolve, well defined, 
will accomplish almost anything. — Mathews. 



112 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



To think we are able, is almost to be so; to de- 
termine upon attainment, is frequently attain- 
ment itself. — Sam' I Smiles. 

Come, firm resolve, take thou the van, 
Thou stalk of earle-hemp in man. — Burns. 

"Alas! we make a ladder of our thoughts 
where angels step. But sleep ourselves at the 
foot: our high resolves look down upon our slum- 
bering acts." 

Responsibility.— Every man is the architect of his own 
fortune . — Sallust. 

It is not in our stars, but in ourselves that we 
are underlings. — Shakespeare. 

What is grandeur, what is power ? 
Heavier toil, superior pain. — Gray. 

Rest.— Too much rest is rust, 

There's ever cheer in changing. — Scott. 

The sleep of the laboring man is sweet, whether 
he eat little or much, but the abundance of the 
rich will not suffer him to sleep. — The Bible. 
Result.— 

As sickly plants betray a niggard earth, 
Whose barren bosom starves her generous birth. 

— Gray. 

The thorns which I have reap'd are of the tree 
I planted ; they have torn me, and I bleed. 
I should have known what fruit would spring from 
such a seed. — Byron. 

Revelry.— (s e e Pleasure.) 

Revenge.— " He that revenge th knoweth no rest; 

The meek possess a peaceful breast." 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



"3 



Revenge, at first, though sweet, 
Bitter ere long back on itself recoils. — Milton. 
Reward. — Some people want to be soldiers and remain 
in camp all the time, and then when the war is 
over, they are the first to ask for a pension. 

— Rev. Dr. W. Bishop Johnson. 

Rhode Island. — 

Rogue's island once — but when the rogues were dead, 
Rhode Island was the name it took instead. — Bryant. 
Riches. — if a rich man wishes to be healthy, he must 
live like a poor one. — Sir William Temple. 

For riches certainly make themselves wings ; 
they fly away as an eagle towards heaven. 

—The Bible. 
Riches, like insects, when conceal' d they lie, 
Wait but for wings, and in their season fly. 

—Pope. 

As rich as twenty seas, as if all their sands were 
pearls, the water nectar, and the rocks pure gold. 

— Shakespeare. 

Jewels are baubles; 'tis a sin 
To care for such unfruitful things. — Holmes. 
Right.— Be sure you are right, then go ahead. 

— David Crockett. 
I would rather be right than be president. 

— Henry Clay. 
For modes of faith let graceless zealots fight; 
His can't be w r rong whose life is in the right. 

—Pope. 

It is not enough to do the right thing, but we 
must do it in the right way, and at the right time. 

— Mathews. 



114 THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 

" Every fish has its fly; but even the right fly 
is not enough; you must play it nicely in the 
right spot." 
Sadness.— p u t we hence 

Dark and sad thoughts awhile — there's time for them 
Hereafter. — Bryant. 
The day that comes with a cloudy dawn, 
In golden glory at last may wane. 
(See Sorrow. ) — Kate Putnam Osgood. 

Sameness.— (See Monotony.) 

Sarcasm.— Nothing is so easy and inviting as the retort 
of abuse and sarcasm; but it is a paltry and un- 
profitable contest. — Washington Irving. 

Satisfaction.— 

See some strange comfort every state attend, 
And pride bestowed on all a common friend. 

if. if. -if. if if. if. 

One prospect lost, another still we gain, 
And not a vanity is giv'n in vain. — Pope. 
Scolding.— 

Good humor can prevail, 

When airs, and flights, and scolding fail. 

—Pope. 

Self.— 

Whate'er the passion, knowledge, fame, or pelf, 
Not one will change his neighbor with himself. 

5{< >fi ^f. ^f. 

Trust not yourself; but your defects to know, 
Make use of ev'ry friend and ev'ry foe. 

if if if if if if 

Not man alone, but all that roam the wood, 
Or wing the sky, or roll along the flood, 
Each loves itself — but not itself alone, 
Each sex desires alike, till two are one. — Pope. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Two principles in human nature reign — 
Self-love to urge, and reason to restrain. 
Self-love, the spring of motion, acts the soul; 
Reason's comparing balance rules the whole. — Pope.. 

It is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we 
are underlings. — Shakespeare. 

1 1 When man thinks only of himself he consid- 
ers nothing else." 

" We ourselves shape the joys and fears 
Of which the life to come is made, 
And fill our future atmosphere 
With sunshine or with shade." 

For upon what part soever of the earth men 
dwell, whether above or under, it always seemeth 
to them that they walk more perpendicularly than 
other folks. — Sir John de Mandeville. 

Self-Control. — A man who cannot command his temper 
should not think of being a man of business. 

— Philip D. Stanhope. 

Sclf-Praise.— i^et another man praise thee, and not thine 
own mouth. — The Bible. 

Self-Sacrifice.— it is an impressive truth, that sometimes 
in the very lowest form of duty, less than would 
rank a man a villain, there is the noblest self-sac- 
rifice. — Thomas De Quincey. 

Sense. — 

Good sense is only the gift of heaven. * * 
Good nature and good sense must ever join. 

—Pope. 

Sentiment. — 

" Sacrificing sentiment to sound, 
He cut the truth short to make the period round." 



n6 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Service. — 

Small service is true service while it lasts, 

Of friends however humble scorn not one, 
The daisy by the shadow that it casts, 

Protects the lingering dew-drop from the sun. 

— William Wordsworth. 
He also serves who stands and waits. — Milton. 
Show.— (See Splendor.) 

Silence.— " The overflow of gladness, when words are 
all too weak." 

The first virtue is to restrain the tongue; he 
approaches nearest to the gods who knows how to 
be silent, even though he is in the right. — Cato. 

Yet speech e'en there, submissively withdraws 
From rights of subjects and the poor man's cause: 
Then pompous Silence reigns, and stills the noisy 

Iyaws. ***** 
Be silent always, when you doubt your sense; 
And speak, tho' sure, with seeming diffidence. 

—Pope. 

Sin.— 1 ' Some sins there are 

That might almost be virtues called, 
Yet they are sins." 

Man-like is it to fall into sin, 
Fiend-like is it to dwell therein, 
Christ-like is it for sin to grieve, 
God-like is it all sin to leave. — Longfellow. 

Use sin as it will use you; spare it not for it 
will not spare you. — Richard Baxter. 

Slander. — 

'Tis slander, whose breath 

Rides on the posting winds, and doth belie 

All corners of the world. — Shakespeare. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 117 

Whispering tongues can poison truth. 

— Coleridge. 
'Tis doubly vile, when, but to prove your art, 
You fix an arrow in a blameless heart. — Pope. 

Calumny would soon starve and die of itself if 
nobody took it in and gave it lodging. — Leighton. 

" Many calumnies are injuries, even after 
they are refuted. Like Spanish flies, they sting 
when alive, and blister when dead." 
Slavery.— 

And virtue cannot dwell with slaves, nor reign 
O'er those who cower to take a tyrant's yoke. 

— Bryant. 

Sorrow. — 

4 4 Fiercest agonies have shortest reign ; 
And after dreams of horrors, comes again 
The welcome morning with its rays of peace." 

4 'Sorrow and silence are strong; but patient 
endurance is God-like." 

We look before and after, 
And sigh for what is not; 
Our sincerest laughter 
With some pain is fraught. 

— Percy B. Shelley. 
Troubles are hard to take, though they 
strengthen the soul. Tonics are always bitter. 

— Talmage. 
The good are better made by ill: — 
As odors crushed are sweeter still. 

—Sam' I Rogers. 
The brightest bow we only trace upon the dark- 
est clouds. — Frances Ridley Havergal. 



Ii8 



the composer's friend. 



When sorrows come, they come not single spies, 
But in battalions — Shakespeare. 

" The night is mother of the day, 
The Winter of the Spring." 

Sorrows are often like clouds, which, though 
black when they are passing over us, when they 
are passed become as if they were the garments 
of God, thrown off in purple and gold along the 
sky. — Beecher. 

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining, 
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining; 
Thy fate is the common fate of all, 
Into each life some rain must fall, 
Some days must be dark and dreary. 

— Longfellozv. 

There is a day of sunny rest 

For every dark and troubled night; 

And grief may hide an evening guest, 
But joy shall come with early light. 

* * * * * * 

For God hath marked each sorrowing day, 
And numbered every secret tear, 

And heaven's long age of bliss shall pay 
For all His children suffer here. — Bryant. 

" Afflictions, though they seem severe, 
In mercy oft are sent." 
(See Sadness, Trouble.) 

Soul, The— In the wreck of noble lives, 

Something immortal still survives. 

****** 

Make the house, where Gods may dwell, 
Beautiful, entire, and clean. — Longfellow. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



II 9 



" My mind may lose its force, my blood its fire, 
And my frame perish even in conquering pain, 
But there is that within me which shall tire, 
Torture, and live and breathe when I expire." 

I pray Thee, O God, to make me beautiful 
within. — Socrates. 
Speech.— 

Yet speech e'en there, submissively withdraws 
From rights of subjects and the poor man's cause: 
Then pompous Silence reigns and stills the noisy 
Laws. — Pope. 
Splendor. — 

'Tis use alone that sanctifies expense, 

And splendor borrows all her ravs from sense. 

—Pope. 

Stability.—" Something sterling, that will stay 
When gold and silver fly away." 

When falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall; 
And when Rome falls — the world! — Byron. 

Rock-ribbed and ancient as the sun. — Bryant. 
(See Durability.) 
Steadiness. — 

But chief, be steady in a noble end, 

And show mankind that truth has yet a friend. 

—Pope. 

Stillness —Soft stillness and the night become the 
touches of sweet harmony. — Shakespeare. 

Strangers.— Be not forgetful to entertain strangers; for 
often ye entertain angels unawares. — The Bible. 

Strength.— For the race is not always to the swift, nor 
the battle to the strong. — The Bible. 
(See Stability.) 



120 THE composer's friend. 

Strife— "Wrangling soon changes a home to a hell. 

- — Longfellow. 

But all subsists by elemental strife; 

And passions are the elements of life. — Pope. 
Stupidity. — 

As things seem large which we through mist descry, 
Dullness is ever apt to magnify. — Pope. 

Success.— it is told of Hercules, god of real force, that 
whether he stood, or walked, or sat, or whatever 
thing he did, he conquered. 

Some people refer their successes to virtue and 
ability; but it is all fate. — Pliny. 
Nothing is so successful as success. 

— Talleyrand. 

Nothing succeeds like success. 

— {From the French.*) 
' ' The morning hangs its signal 
Upon the mountain's crest, 
While all the sleeping valleys 

In silent darkness rest; 
But from peak to peak it flashes, 

It laughs along the sky, 
That the crowning day is coming by and by." 

<l If you wish success in life, make perseverance 
your bosom friend, experience your wise counsel, 
caution your elder brother, and hope your guar- 
dian genius." 

' ' Make yourself necessary, and your success is 
certain." 

To succeed, one must sometimes be very bold, 
and sometimes very prudent. — Napoleon. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 121 

The talent of success is nothing more than 
doing what you can do well, without a thought of 
Fame. — Longfellow. 

Mere industry and economy are not enough: 
there must be intelligence and original thought. 
(See Victory, Hope.) — Mathews. 

Sufficiency. — 

The mouse that always trusts to one poor hole, 
Can never be a mouse of any soul. — Pope. 

Supremacy.— Uneasy lies the head that wears a 
crown . — Shakespeare . 

" Man o'er man He will not lord, 
Such title to Himself reserved." 

The paths of glory lead but to the grave. 

— Gray. 

Superiority. — No man can end with being superior, who 
will not begin with being inferior. 

— Sydney Smith. 
Strive not with a mighty man, lest thou fall 
into his hands. — The Bible. 
Swiftness.— For the race is not to the swift, nor the bat- 
tle to the strong. — The Bible. 

Here is the steed that saved the day 
By carrying Sheridan into the fight 
From Winchester — twenty miles away. 

— Thomas B. Read. 

Tact.— Tact clinches the bargain; 

Sails out of the bay; 
Gets the vote in the Senate 

Spite of Webster or Clay. — Emerson. 



122 



THE composer's friend. 



Tact is intelligence condescending to oil a poor 
machine instead of devising a better one. 

— -J. S. Taylor. 

Tardiness.— He that draws to harbor late, 

Must sleep without, or burst the gate. 

—Scott. 

In the world, the penalty of being behind time, 
is the loss of some advantage that would else have 
been gained. — Herbert Spencer. 
Teaching.— The sweetest pleasure is in imparting it. 

— Bovce. 

Delightful task! to rear the tender thought, 
To teach the young idea how to shoot. 

— James Tomson. 
The work of a teacher is next to the office of 
preacher. — Luther. 

" Daye after daye, for little paye, 
He teacheth what he can, 
And wears ye yoke to please ye folke, 
And ye committeeman." 

Tears.—" The overflow of gladness, when words are all 
too weak." 

Temperance.— "Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor 
drink, that putteth the bottle to him, and maketh 
him drunken also. * * * 

Woe unto them that rise up early in the morn- 
ing, that they may follow strong drink, that con- 
tinue until night, till wine inflame them. 

* * * * * * 

Look not upon wine when it is red, when it 
giveth its color in the cup, when it moveth itself 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 123 

aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent and 
stingeth like an adder. — The Bible. 
Temptation.— Ay me, how many perils doe enfold the 
righteous man to make him daily fall. 

— Edmund Spenser. 
Temptation is a fearful word; the ringing of an 
alarm bell, wdiose melancholy sound may rever- 
berate through eternity. — Horace Mann. 

Vice is a monster of so frightful mien, 
As, to be hated, needs but to be seen; 
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face, 
We first endure, then pity, then embrace. 

—Pope. 

Why comes temptation, but for man to meet 
And master and make crouch beneath his feet, 
And so be pedestal in triumph. — Browning. 

Thankfulness.— The life of thankfulness consists in the 

thankfulness of the life. — W. Btirkitt. 
Theft.— Stolen waters are sweet. — The Bible. 
Stolen sweets are best. — Colley Cibber. 
" The petty thief the world puts in prison; the 
great thief, in a palace." 
Thoughts— As he thinketh in his heart, so is he. 

— The Bible. 
No man ever rises above his thoughts. 

— Rev. Dr. W. Bishop Johnson. 
She floats upon the river of his thoughts. 

— Longfellow. 
Thoughts are mightier than armies. 

— /no. Todd, D. D. 



124 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Guard well thy thoughts; for thoughts are 
heard in heaven. — Young. 

They are never alone who are accompanied with 
noble thoughts. — Sir Philip Sidney. 

Evil thoughts are worse enemies than lions and 
tigers, for we can get out of the way of wild 
beasts. Keep your hearts and heads full of good 
thoughts, that bad thoughts may not find room. 

— Anon. 

Correct thought creates right action. 

— Henry George. 

"Alas! we make a ladder of our thoughts 
where angels step, but sleep ourselves at the foot: 
our high resolves look down upon our slumbering 
acts." 

The noble man is the noble thinker. The 
noble thinker is he who by thought adds elements 
of strength to his character. * * * 

The great fault, however, of our day, is not 
that the people fail to think, but that they think 
contrary to the proper rule. 

* :k *- 'M H< 

The true thinker thinks by the standard of 
soberness, righteousness, and godliness, and thus 
forms within himself correct principles of conduct. 

* * * * * * 

Wrong modes of thinking lead inevitably to 
improper living. — Rev. J. H. Frank. 
Thoughtlessness. — 

Evil is wrought by want of thought, 

As well as want of heart. — Thomas Hood. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



125 



Time.— Our to-days and yesterdays 

Are the blocks with which we build. 

— Longfellow. 

"Time advances like the slowest tide, but 
retreats like the swiftest current." 

Dost thou love life? Then do not squander 
time; for that is the stuff life is made of. 

— Franklin. 

' ' Every hour comes to us charged with duty, 
and the moment it is past, returns to heaven to 
register itself how spent. ' ' 

That which causes us to lose most of our time 
is the repugnance which we naturally have to 
labor. — Dry den. 

But Time 

Knows not the weight of sleep and weariness; 
And night's deep darkness has no chain to bind 
His rushing pinion. — Geo. D. Prentice. 

We all complain of the shortness of time, and 
yet we have much more than we know what to do 
with. Most lives are spent in doing nothing at 
all, or nothing to the purpose. We say that our 
days are few, and act as though there would be 
no end to them. — Seneca. 

Time is dangerous to the consummation of any 
purpose. It is not from the lack of time that we 
so often fail in our purpose, but from the lack of 
inclination. Time creates laxity of bent. 

— Newsom. 



126 



the; composer's friend. 



A failure to accomplish your purpose only dem- 
onstrates the feebleness of your will, and not that 
you lacked time for its execution. — Mathews. 
Nay, dally not with time, the wise man's treasure, 
Though fools are lavish on't — the fatal Fisher 
Hooks souls while we waste moments. — Scott. 

Lost, yesterday, somewhere between sunrise 
and sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty 
diamond minutes. No reward is offered, for they 
are gone forever.— Horace Ma?in. 

" Make good use of time, if thou lovest eter- 
nity; yesterday cannot be recalled — to-morrow 
cannot be secured — to-day only is thine, which, if 
once lost, is lost forever." 

It is a truism which cannot be too often 
repeated, that lost wealth may be replaced by 
industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by 
temperance or medicine, but lost time is gone for- 
ever. — Ma thews . 

There are no fragments so precious as those of 
time, and none so heedlessly lost by people who 
cannot make a moment, and yet can waste years. 

— Montg ornery. 

Time is like a ship which never anchors; while 
I am on board, I had better do those things which 
may profit me at my landing than practice such 
things as will cause my commitment when I come 
ashore . — Feltham . 
To=morrow.— Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou 
knowest not what a day may bring forth. 

— The Bible. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



127 



Tongue.— whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue, 
keepeth his soul from trouble. 

A soft answer turneth away wrath; but griev- 
ous words stir up anger. — The Bible. 

I think that the first virtue is to restrain the 
tongue: he approaches nearest to the Gods, who 
knows how to be silent even when he is in the 
right . — Chaucer. 
(See Silence.) 
Trade. — ' < He is truly the independent man who has a 
trade, and is neither ashamed nor unwilling to 
follow it." 

It is as natural for men to trade as it is for 
blood to circulate. * * * Without trade man 
would be a savage. 

*{s ■ -ijs sjt *jc *i* . . H* 

It is where trade could best be carried on that 
we find wealth first accumulating, and w T ealth 
beginning. 

^< 5jC ^ jjc ^ ^f. 

Trade has ever been the extinguisher of war, 
the eradicator of prejudice, the diffuser of knowl- 
edge. — Heyiry George. 
What war could ravish commerce could bestow, 
And he return' d a friend who came a foe. 
Converse and love mankind may strongly draw, 
When love was liberty, and nature law. — Pope. 
Training.— Every child should be trained to dexterity in 
some useful branch of productive industry. 

— Horace Greeley. 



128 THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 

Just as the twig is bent the tree's inclined. 

— Pope. 

Fill the bushel with good wheat, and there will 
be no room for chaff and rubbish. 

— A rch bishop Leighton . 
Trials —Men can no more be made without trials, than 
bricks without straw. — Mathews. 
(See Obstacles.) 
Trivialties.— Nothing useless is, or low; 

Each thing in its place is best; 
And what seems but idle show 

Strengthens and supports the rest. 

— Longfellow. 

A word will tame the high spirit, a look 
touch the warm heart, a kind act be repaid with 
one still kinder. — Louisa M. Alcott. 

Think naught a trifle, though it small appear; 
Small sands the mountains, moments make the year, 
And trifles, life. — You?ig. 

The smallest incident will sometimes change 
the course of a lifetime. 

— Rev. Dr. W. Bishop Johnson. 

" Small pitchers are soon filled, 
kittle heads are soon swelled." 

What dire offence from am'rous causes springs, 
What mighty contests rise from trivial things. 

— Pope. 

" What a great fire a little matter kindleth." 

A little fire is quickly trodden out, 

Which, being suffered, rivers cannot quench. 

— Shakespeare. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



129 



Alas! how light a cause may prove 
Dissension between hearts that love. 

— Sh akespea? e. 

Troubles.— Troubles are hard to take, though they 
strengthen the soul. — Tonics are always bitter. 

T. De Witt Talmage. 

Troubles spring from idleness, and grievous toil 
from needless ease. — Benj. Franklin. 

" Troubles never last forever; 
The darkest day will pass away." 

There is a day of sunny rest, 

For every dark and troubled night. — Bryant. 

These severe afflictions 

Not from the ground arise, 
But oftentimes celestial benedictions 

Assume this dark disguise. 

if if if if if if 

What seem to us sad, funeral tapers, 
May be heaven's distant lamps. — Longfellow. 
(See Sorrow. ) 
Truth.— 

'Tis not enough, taste, judgment, learning, join; 
In all you speak, let truth and candor shine. 

Truth be your guide; disdain ambition's call; 
And if you fall with truth, you greatly fall. 

If once right reason drive that cloud away, 
Truth breaks upon us with resistless day. — Pope. 

" Vitality inheres in truth, not in error; 
Truth crushed to earth will rise again." 



130 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



When by night the frogs are croaking, 

Kindle but a torch's fire, 
Ha ! how soon they all are silent t 

Thus Truth silences the liar. 

:|c $z sj: $c $z 

Bear through sorrow, wrong, and ruth, 
On thy lips the smile of truth. — Longfellow. 

High o'er the eastern steep the sun is beaming, 
And darkuess flies with her deceitful shadows; 
So truth prevails o'er falsehood. 

The molten gold returns to clay, 

The polished diamond melts away; 

All is altered, all is flown, 

Naught stands fast but truth alone. — Scott. 

Truth, crushed to earth, will rise again; 

The eternal years of God are hers. — Bryant. 

There are some faults slight in the sight of love, 
some errors slight in the estimate of wisdom; but 
truth forgives no insult, and endures no pain. 

— Rnskin. 

Turmoil.-(See Strife.) 

Tyranny.— Resistance to tyranny is obedience to law. 

— Dr. Franklin. 

Unkindness.— (See Kindness.) 
Union. — 

But as He fram'd the whole, the whole to bless, 
On mutual wants built mutual happiness: 
So from the first eternal -Order ran, 
And creature link'd to creature, man to man. 

* * * * * <g 

Union the bond of all things, and of man. — Pope. 

" In union there is strength." 



THE composer's friend. 



United States, The— 

Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State! 

Sail on, O Union, strong and great! 
Humanity with all its fears, 
With all the hopes of future years, 

Is hanging breathless on thy fate. 

— Longfellow^ 

Use.— Use and Habit are powers, 
Far stronger than Passion, 
In this world of ours. 

— Robert Bulwer-Lytton. 

" Use justifies excuse." 
Usefulness. — 

" Count that day lost, whose low, descending sun 
Finds from thy hands no kindly action done." 
We cannot all be heroes, 

And thrill a hemisphere 
With some great, daring venture, 

Some deed that mocks at fear. 
But we can fill a lifetime 

With kindly acts and true: 
There is always noble service 

For noble souls to do. — Sir John Lubback. 
" * * * see a W orld in a grain of sand, 
And a heaven in a wild flower; 
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, 

And eternity in an hour. ' ' 
That is a good day in which you have made 
some one happy. — Tahnage. 

There lives not a man on earth, out of a lunatic 
asylum, who has not in him the power to do good. 

— Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton. 
Vanity. — i n a va i n man, the smallest spark may kindle 
into the greatest flame. — David Hume. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Surely every man is vain. * * * 

Vanity of vanities; all is vanity, — Ihe Bible. 

Variance.— This world is full of variance. — Chaucer. 

Be not at variance with a rich man, lest he 
overweigh thee. — The Bible. 

Vice.— vice is a monster of so frightful mien, 
As, to be hated, needs but to be seen; 
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face, 
We first endure, then pity, then embrace. 

if if if if if if 

The stream of vice impetuous drives along, 
Too deep for policy, for power too strong. 

vf ' if if. if if if. 

No creature owns it in the first degree, 

But thinks his neighbor farther gone than he. 

if if if if. if if 

What happier natures shrink at with affright, 
The hard inhabitant contends is right. — Pope. 

"It is an evil force, that fosters the faults it 
seeks in vain to correct." 

(See Virtue.) 
Victory.— 

" And in one night 

The trumpet silenced and the plumes laid low. ' ' 

(See Hope, Success.) 
Vigilance.— (See Watchfulness.) 

Tirtue.— Abashed the devil stood, 

And felt how awful goodness is and saw 
Virtue in her shape how lovely. — Milton. 

If virtue feeble were 

Heaven itself would stoop to her. — Milton. 
The only reward of virtue is virtue. — Emerson. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



And virtue cannot dwell with slaves, nor reign 
O'er those who cower to take a tyrant's yoke. 

— Bryant. 

Passive virtues are of all others the severest and 
most sublime. — Paley. 

How oft by these at sixty are undone 
The virtues of a saint of twenty-one. 

* * * * * * 

The broadest mirth unfeeling folly wears, 
Less pleasing far than virtue's very tears. 

s$£ jfc ■ *Jc sjs sfc jfc 

And oft so mixt, the diff'rence is too nice 

Where ends the virtue, or begins the vice. 

** * ** * 

Virtue alone is happiness below — 
The only point where human bliss stands still, 
And tastes the good, without the fall to ill. 

The soul's calm sunshine, and the heartfelt joy 

is virtue's prize. 

* * * * * * 

Virtuous and vicious ev'ry man must be, 

Few in th' extreme, but all in the degree. 

* * # * * 

Error like this, e'en truth can scarce reprove; 
'Tis almost virtue when it flows from love. 

—Pope. 

Visiting.- I do not tremble when I meet 
The stoutest of my foes; 
But heaven defend me from the friend 

Who comes but never goes—John G. Saxe. 
(See Home.) 
Vote.— How in nice times a man should vote, 

At what conjuncture he should turn his coat. 

— Macaulay. 

11 A man's vote is his honor." 



134 



the composer's friend. 



Wages.— The wages of sin is death.— The Bible. 

Wages, like water, tend to a level. — George. 
Want.— The grave Sir Gilbert holds it for a rule, 

That every man in want is knave or fool. 
* * * * * * 

But mutual wants this happiness increase, 
All nature's difference keeps all nature's peace. 
(See Poverty.) — Pope 

War.— There is no receipt like pike and drum 
For crazy constitutions. — Macaulay. 

The drying up a single tear has more 

Of honest fame than shedding seas of gore. 

— By 7 on 

Watchfulness. — 

" Pleasant it is for the little tin gods 
When great Jove nods; 

But the little tin gods make their little mistakes 
In missing the hour when the great Jove wakes." 
Wealth.— 

" Wealth is the conjurer's Devil, 

Whom, when he thinks he hath, the Devil hath him." 

(See Riches.) 
Wedlock.— 

Great is the blessing of a prudent wife 
Who puts a period to domestic strife. 
****** 

Since painted, or not painted, all shall fade, 
And she who scorns a man must die a maid. 

There swims no goose so grey, but soon or late, 
She finds some honest gander for her mate. 

Not man alone, but all that roam the wood, 
Or wing the sky, or roll along the flood, 



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135 



Each loves itself — but not itself alone, 
Each sex desires alike, till two are one. 

The lovely toy, so fiercely sought, 
Hath lost its charm by being caught.- — Pope. 
Two souls and but a single thought; 
Two hearts that beat as one. — Scott. 
But, when those wayward sprites had passed away, 
Came One, the last, the mightiest, and the best. 
(See Wife.) — Macaulay. 

Wickedness.— No man ever became extremely wicked all 
at once. — -Juvenal. 

The wicked flee when no man pursueth. 

— The Bible. 
There's method in man's wickedness, 

It grows up by degrees. — Beau and Fletch. 
Wife — All other goods by fortune's hands are given; 
A wife is the peculiar gift of heaven. — Pope. 
(See Wedlock.) 
Will. — Even brains are secondary in importance to will. 

— Mathews. 
For none want reasons to confirm their will. 

—Pope. 

He that complies against his will, 
Is of his own opinion still. — Samuel Butler. 
" Where there is a will, there is a way." 
Wine.— The worm, the canker, and the grief. — Byron. 

The insane root that takes the reason pris- 
oner. — Shakespeare. 

Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and 

whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. 

— The Bible. 

(See Drunkenness.) 



136 the composer's friend. 

Wink.— " A wink is as good as a nod to a blind horse." 

Wisdom.— Go, teach eternal Wisdom how to rule — 
Then drop into thyself and be a fool. 

# # * * # 

Who wickedly is wise, or madly brave. 
Is but the more a fool, the more a knave. 

* * * -* * 

Tell (for you can) what is it to be wise? 

'Tis but to know how little can be known; 

To see all other's faults, and feel our own. — Pope. 

Where ignorance is bliss, 
'Tis folly to be wise. — Gray. 

Wisdom is better than weapons of war. * * 
A wise son maketh a glad father; but a foolish 
son is the heaviness of his mother. * * 

Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her 
paths are peace. — The Bible. 
Wise, The— Whoso keepeth the law is a wise son. * * 
He that walketh with wise men shall be wise. 

—The Bib**, 

Wit- 
In search of wit these lose their common sense 
And then turn Critics in their own defense. — Pope. 

Whose wit in the combat, as gentle as bright, 
Ne'er carried a heart-stain away on its blade. 

— Moore. 

Woman. — " Woman is man's conscience, and it is a good 
thing to have his conscience always with him." 
Alone 

She moves, the queen of her own quiet home. 

— Rev. Mark Trap ton. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



137 



" Woman is a bundle of nerves, with extra 
knots in them for mind and heart." 

Alas! the love of woman! it is known 

To be a lovely and a dreadful thing. — Byron. 

" A woman who is always thinking of herself, 
is always thinking of mischief, and what else has 
an idle woman to think of ? " Madam Necker 
said, * 1 A woman needs no tutor to teach her love 
and tears." 

' ' Woman is the only female in creation who 
sings; she is also the only female whose plumage 
is finer than that of her mate." 

To be womanly is the greatest charm of woman. 

— Gladstone. 

1 ' Woman is the happiness of one man and the 
bane of two." 

'Tis woman who seduces all mankind, 

By her we first were taught the wheedling arts. 

— Gay. 

"Woman is a sunflower, bending her head 
only to golden rays. ' ' 

. 'Tis duty that enslaveth womankind. — Knott. 

" Woman is only a rib of man, but she is worth 
all the other of his bones put together. ' ' 

' 1 Woman is the finishing touch : man was only 
an experiment." 

1 ' A woman seldom loves, but she has a tre- 
mendous capacity for emotion." 

O, most delicate friend! 

Who is't can read a woman ? — Cymbeline. 



138 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



" A woman always has something to do: time 
hangs not on her hands." 

A noble man by woman's gentle word 
May oft be led. — Goethe. 

L,et no man value at a little price a virtuous 
woman's counsel; her wing'd spirit is feathered 
oftentimes with heavenly words. — Chapman. 

" When lovely woman stoops and falls to shame, 
Who seeks to know the truth about her tall ? 

Upon whose heads do Christians heap the blame? 
The curse falls on her own, of course, that's all. 

They are the first to execrate her name, 
And mantle it in a disgraceful pall. 

From love, and care, and chastity she's hurled 

By those who keep unspotted from the world. 

What of the man w T ho caused her fall and blight ? 
How does the 1 1 straight-backed class ' ' regard his 
act? 

" The trifling thing, he treated her just right; 

She had but little reason and less tact." 
He, perhaps, reforms, becomes a Christian light, 

And prays for scarlet sinners and souls racked. 
The church her doors throws wide and takes him in, 

But closes them against this " maid of sin." 

It does not weigh the villain's subtle lies, 

His powers of passion to subdue the mind, 
Nor how, with Judas' kiss, he hourly tries 

Her love and virtue, with his lust to bind. 
And if she yields, and thus sweet virtue dies, 

Around her love the serpent is entwined, 
Another life to shame but pays the debt, 

And all but her live on with no regret." 



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J39 



In great crises, it is woman's special lot to 
soften our misfortunes. — Napoleon Bonaparte. 

Woman's faith and woman's trust — 
Write the characters in dust; 
Stamp them on the running stream. 
Print them on the moon's pale beam. 
****** 

I have strained the spider's thread 
'Gainst the promise of a maid; 
I have weighed a grain of sand 
'Gainst her plight of heart and hand. 

O, woman! in our hours of ease, 
Uncertain, coy, and hard to please, 
And variable as the shade 
By the light of the quivering aspen made; 
When pain and anguish wring the brow, 
A ministering angel thou ! — Scott. 

The woman's cause is man's; they rise or sink 
Together, dwarfed or godlike, bond or free. 

— Tennyson, 

He is a fool who thinks by force or skill, 

To turn the current of a woman's will. — Tuke. 

"Most men are fools about women; but no 
man is quite so great a fool as he who thinks he 
knows all about them." 

A woman is a creature direct from God; a 
sacred and delicate gift, with affections so vast 
that nothing but the measuring line of the infinite 
God will tell her bounds. — Talmage. 



the; composer's friend. 



i ' As unto the bow the cord is, 

So unto the man is woman: 

Though she bends him, she obeys him; 

Though she draws him, yet she follows; 

Useless each without the other. ' ' 

Frailty, thy name is woman! — Shakespeare. 

A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: 
but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in 
his bones. * * * * 

Who can find a virtuous woman ? for her price 
is far above rubies. — The Bible. 

Woman and fool are too hard things to hit. 

* * -x- * * * 

Offend her, and she knows not to forgive; 
Oblige her, and she'll hate you while you live: 
But die, and she'll adore you. 

* * * * * * 

Forbid it, heaven, a favor or a debt 

She e'er should conceal; — but she may forget. 

* * * * * -X- 

But grant, in public, men sometimes are shown, 
A woman's seen in private life alone* 

* * -X- * -X- -X- 

Men, some to quiet, some to public strife; 
But every lady would be queen for life. 

****** 

In men, we various ruling passions find; 
In woman, two almost divide the kind, — 
The love of pleasure and the love of sway. 

* -X- -X- * * * 

Men, some to business some to pleasure take; 

But every woman is at heart a rake. 

****** 

For never was it giv'n to mortal man, 
To lie so boldly as we women can. — Pope. 



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141 



Would men but follow what the sex advise, 
All things would prosper, all the world grow wise. 
****** 

'Tis true, perfection none must hope to find 
In all this world, much less in womankind. 

* * * * * * 

If to her share some female errors fall, 
Look on her face, and you'll forget them all. 

* * * ; * * * 

Heaven gave to woman the peculiar grace, 
To spin, to weep, and cully human race. 

And yet, believe me, good as well as ill, 
A woman's a contradiction still. — Pope. 
Wooing. — 

That man that hath a tongue I say is no man, 
If with his tongue he cannot win a woman. 

— Shake spea re . 

Work.— " All honest work is honorable." 

World, The— The world hath its delights, 

And its delusions, too. — Bowring. 

The world's a mighty book, upon whose pages 

Each man is sternly bid to place his name, 
And there, recorded through enduring ages, 
We mark the loved and honored ones of fame. 

— Rowan Stevens. 
I have never loved the world, nor the world 
me. — Byron. 
(See Life.) 
Worth.— This mournful truth 

Is everywhere confessed: 
Slow rises worth when 

By poverty depressed.— -Johnson, 



142 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Worth makes the man, and want of it the fellow; 
The rest is all but leather or prunella^ — Pope. 
Writing.— 

True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, 
As those move easiest who have learn' d to-day. 

—Pope. 

Reading makes a full man, writing an exact 
man, and conversation a ready man. — Bacon. 
Wrong.— "A little wrong done to another, is a great 
wrong done to ourselves." 
Pleasure or wrong, or rightly understood, — 
Our greatest evil or our greatest good. — Pope. 
Youth.— Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth. * * * 
Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy 
youth. — The Bible. 

Words cannot tell how bright and gay 
The signs of life before me lay. * * 
Those pure and happy times — the golden days 

of old. — Bryant. 
When we are out of sympathy with the young, 
then I think our work in this world is over. 

— Geo. McDonald. 
In the lexicon of youth, which fate reserves for 
a bright manhood, there is no such word as fail. 

— Bulwer- Lytton . 
Old fish at table, but young flesh in bed. 
My soul abhors the tasteless, dry embrace 
Of a stale virgin with a winter face. — Pope. 
Yes, dear, departed, cherished days, 

Could memory's hand restore 
Your morning lights, your evening rays 

From Time's gray urn once more, — 
Then might this restless heart be still, 

This straining eye might close, 
And Hope, her fainting pinions fold 
While the fair phantoms rose. — Hope. 



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143 



SECTION II. 

proverbs, flfcaxtms, etc, 

" proverbs are tbe concentrated wieoom of tbe ages/' 

[Note : In some instances the original language in 
which the proverb appears is not given; in such cases the 
abbreviated name of the language is given, showing from 
what tongue the proverb is taken. ~\ 

Abuse.— Abuse is not an argument against a proper use. 

(Lat.) Abusus non tollit usum. 
He confirms the use of a thing who takes away 

the abuse. 
Accident. — 

A slip of the pen. — (Lat.) Lapsus calami. 

" tongue. — (Lat.) Lapsus linguae. 
" memory. — (Lat.) Lapsus memoriae. 
Accommodation.— One good turn deserves another. 
Acquaintance.— Don't give your right hand to every one. 
Trust no man until you have eaten a bushel of 
salt with him. (Lat.) 
Adaptation.— S evere cases require severe remedies. 

For a hard knot a hard tool. — (Lat.) Malo nodo 
malus cuneus. 

Extreme cases require extreme remedies. 
Adversity.— Adversity is apt to discover the genius, pros- 
perity to try it. 



144 



The composer's friend. 



Friends are proved by adversity. 
Prosperity begets friends, adversity tries them. 
Affliction. — A patient mind is the best remedy for afflic- 
tion. 

A 8 e -— An old coon for cunning, 

A young coon for running. * 
Old men for counsel, young men for war. 
An old bird is not to be caught with chaff. 

Appearance.— Every one who wears a white coat is not a 
miller. 

Its no sign of a duck's nest to see a drake sitting 
on a log. 

All is not gold that glitters. 
Ass, An.— An ass is known by his ears. (Lat.) Ex 

auribus cognoscitur asinus. 
Association, -play with an ass, and he will slap your 
face with his tail. (Port.) 

Birds of a feather flock together. 
Play with a puppy, and he will lick your mouth. 
Lie down with a dog, and you get up with fleas. 
A man is known by the company he keeps. 
You cannot touch pitch and not be denied. 
Evil communications corrupt good manners. 

— The Bible. 

When you sup with the devil, use a long spoon. 
Beauty.— Beauty and folly are frequent companions. 

. (no 

Beauty is a frail advantage. (Lat.) Forma 
bonum fragile est. 

Beauty is skin deep; ugly is to the bone. 



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145 



Beauty without virtue is like a flower without 
perfume. (Fr.) 
Beginning.— Well begun is half done. 
Boastfulo ess. -A harmless thunderbolt. (Lat.) Brutum 
- fulmen. 

Borrowing.— who goes a-borrowing goes a-sorrowing. 
Caution.— Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. 
Certainty.— A bird in the hand is better than two in the 
bush. 

A sparrow in the hand is better than a goose on 
the wing. (Fr.) 

Eggs to-day are better than chickens tomorrow. 

Change,— The wise man changes his mind: the fool 
never. (Sp.) 

It is a long lane that has no turning. 

Cheerfulness.— The load becomes light which is borne 
with cheerfulness. 

Christian.— if the millet falls, it is picked up; if the chris- 
tian falls, he is walked on. 

Company.— Misery likes company. 

It is a comfort to the wretched to have compan- 
ions in their sorrow. 

Comparisons.— Comparisons are odious. 

Complaint.— Complaint is confession of failure. 

Concealment.— vice is nourished and lives by conceal- 
ment. (I^at.) 

Confession.— An honest confession is good for the soul. 

Conscience.— A sound conscience is a brazen wall of de- 
fence. (I*at.) 



146 



the composer's friend. 



Control.— when you see the dog, the master is not far 
off. 

Counsel.— That grief is but light which can take counsel. 
Covetousness.— A covetous abbot for one offering loses a 

hundred. (Sp.) 
Cowardice.— Cowardly dogs bark loudest. (Lat.) 

An empty wagon makes a heap of noise. 
Custom.— p ursu its become habits. 

Custom makes law. 

Use is second nature. 

Custom is the best interpreter of the law. (Lat. ) 
Dead, The.— Dead men tell no tales. 
Death.— D ea th loves a shining mark. 
Debt.— Happy is the man who owes nothing. (L,at.) 

Felix qui nihil debet. 

Lying rides on debt's back. 
Deception.— One deception makes way for another. 
Decision.— Before you begin, consider, and when you 

have considered, act. — Cicero. 
Delay.— There is danger in delay. (L,at.) Periculum in 

mora. 

Eggs today are better than chickens tomorrow. 

(Lat.) 

Delays are dangerous. 
Procrastination is the thief of time. 
A bird in hand is worth two in the bush. 
Deliberation.— The woman who deliberates is lost. 
Deportment.— Make no man your friend until you have 
ascertained how he has behaved towards his 
former friends. 



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147 



Difficulty. -Nothing is difficult to him who wills. 

Nothing is difficult to the brave and faithful. 

(Lat.) 

Discrimination.— The rat eats the sugar cane, and the in- 
nocent lizzard dies for it. 

The cockroach never wins his cause when the 
chicken is judge. 

For a crime for which one is hanged, another is 
crowned. (Lat.) Ille crucem sceleris pretium hie 
diadema. 

Dispersion.— He who follows two hares catches neither. 

(Ut.) 

It is not easy to drink and whistle at the same 
time. 

Distinction.— The higher the rise the greater the fall. 

Doubt.— A doubtful remedy is better than none. (L,at.) 
Anceps remedium est melius quam nullum. 

Duty.— Nothing deters a good man from the perform- 
ance of his duty. 

Ease. — That load becomes light which is borne with 
cheerfulness. (I,at.) 

Eating— Many dishes bring many diseases. — Pliny. 

To taste of many dishes is a sign of a delicate 
stomach. 

A fat kitchen is next door to poverty. 

To one who has a pie in the oven, you may give 
a piece of your cake. 
Eavesdropping.— An eavesdropper never hears any good 
of himself. 



148 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Economy.— Economy is of itself a great revenue. 

— Circero. 

Evidence.— It is no sign of a duck's nest to see a drake 
sitting on a log. 

Every one who wears a white coat is not a mil- 
ler. 

Evil.— Evil to him who evil thinks. (Fr.) 

To every evil doer his evil day. 

To the pure in heart all things are pure. 

— The Bible. 
Example, Bad.— Dirty water does not wash clean. 

Muddy water wont do for a mirror. 
Excellence.— A thing which is done well is twice done. 
Excess —Every excess becomes a vice. 
Experience.— The beaten path is the safe path. (Eat.) 
Via trita, via tut a. 

Only the sea knows the bottom of the ship. 

Only the foot knows where the shoe pinches. 

A scalded dog thinks cold water hot. 

Only the knife knows the heart of the yam. 

(Sp.) 

A burnt child dreads the fire. 
Experience bought by pain teaches a lesson. 
Experience is the teacher of fools. 
Experience is a dear school, and none but fools 
attend. 

From the errors of others, a wise man corrects 
his own. (Eat.) 
Exposure.— The light is painful to sore eyes. (It.) 

When the wind blows, you see the skin of the 
fowl. 



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149 



Extravagance.— Penny wise and pound foolish. 

Cent wisdom and dollar folly. 

The fool and his money are soon parted. 
Extremes.— The truth lies between too extremes. 

Between all extremes there is a happy medium. 
Fashion.— Fashion is fickle. 



After the English fashion (Fr.) 

" " Chinese 

" " French 

" " Greek 

' ' ' ' Parisian 

1 ' " American 

" " Italian 

" " Sicilian " (It.) 

" " Irish " (Eat.) 

Fighting— A snapping dog w 



J Anglice, or 
I A P Anglaise. 
A 7 a Chinoise. 
A la Francaise. 
A la Grecque. 
A la Parisienne. 
A la Americaine. 
A r Italien?ie. 
Alia Siciliana. 
More Hibernico. 
ears a torn skin. (Lat.) 
Flight.— He confesses his crime who flees from judg- 
ment. 

Folly.— it is a waste of lather to shave an ass. (Sp. ) 
Fool.— Men learn to shave on the face of a fool. 

The fool and his money are soon parted. 

Every fool is pleased with his bauble. (Sp.) 

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. 

A fool's sign, like some folks' faces, 
Is always seen in public places. 

He does a good day's work who rids himself of 
a fool. 

Forbidden Fruits.— Forbidden fruits are sweetest. 
Stolen sweets are best. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Fortune.— The footsteps of fortune are slippery. (Lat.) 
Fortune favors the brave. (Lat:) 
Fortune is made of glass; when she shines, she 
is broken. 

Fortune, when she caresses a man too much, 
makes him a fool. (Lat.) Fo r tuna nimium quern 
favet, stultum facit. 

Good fortune is the companion of virtue or 
courage. (Lat.) Vii'tutis fortuna comes . 

Fortune favors the bold and repels the timid. 

(Lat.) 

Freedom.— He is a free man whom the truth makes free. 
Friend— A friend in need is a friend indeed. 

The house of a friend is the best of houses. 
Gain— An evil gain is equal to a loss. 
Goodness.— A good anvil does not fear the hammer. (It.) 

Nothing deters a good man from the perform- 
ance of his duties. 

Good wine needs no sign. (Fr.) 

To a good cat a good rat. (Fr.) 

A good dog never gets a good bone. (Fr.) 
Grief.— Grief borders on the extremes of gladness. (Lat. ) 

That grief is but light which can take counsel. 

Light sorrows speak, great grief is dumb. 
Guide.— Muddy water wont do for a mirror. 

Woe unto you, blind guides. * * * 

And if the blinH lead the blind, both shall fall 
into the ditch. — The Bible. 



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151 



Guilt— The judge is condemned when the guilty is 
acquitted. (Lat.) Judex damnatur aim ?iocens 
absolvitor. 

A galled horse flinches. 
A guilty conscience needs no accuser. 
Habit. — Habit is a second nature. (It.) 

No man ever became a villain at once. (Lat.) 
Haste— He hastens to repentance who j udges hastily. 

(Lat.) 

Haste makes waste. 
Hesitation.— He who hesitates is lost. 

The woman that deliberates is lost. 
Home.— Hvery man's house is his safest refuge. 

A man's house is his castle. 

The house of a friend is the best of houses. 

(Lat.) 

Honor.— Honor brings responsibility. 

An honorable death is better than an ignomin- 
ious life. (Lat.) Ho?iesta mors turpi vita potior. 
Honor*. — Honors change men's manners or characters. 

(Lat.) 

Hope— Hope is the poor man's bread. 
Hunger— Hunger obeys no laws. (It.) La fame non 
vuol leggi. 

A hungry stomach rarely despises plain food. 
Idleness.— Idleness breeds mischief. 
Idleness tends to vice. 
Idleness is the parent of evil. 
By having nothing to do, men learn to do evil. 
(Lat.) Homines nihil agendo discunt male agere. 



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the composer's friend. 



Ignorance.— Ignorance of the law excuses no man. 

Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise. 
Better be a beggar than be ignorant. 
Ingratitude.— If you call a man ungrateful, you say every- 
thing against him. (I^at.) 
Injury.— it is better to receive than to do an injury. 

Oat.) 

Integrity.— A mind fraught with integrity is the noblest 

possession. (Xat.) Integra mens augustissima 
possessio. 

Interest.— The common good is the great chain which 
binds men together. 

Judging— We must judge according to law, not by pre- 
cedent. 

Justice.— justice shines by her own light. (Lat.) 

Aequitas enim lucet ipsa per se. 
Labor.— i^abor has a bitter root, but a sweet taste. 
Lateness.— Better late than never. 
Laughter.— He who laughs last, laughs best. 

He who laughs overmuch may have an aching 
heart. (It.) 

He laughs well who laughs last. (Fr.) 
By his immoderate laughter you can always tell 
the fool. (Lat.) 
Law.— Not every lawful thing is honorable. 

That which is lawful is not always honorable. 
(L,at. ) Honestum id est non semper quod licet. 
Leanness.— A goat, a goose, and a woman are bad things 
lean. 



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153 



Literature.— Life without literature is death. (Lat.) 

Vita sine Uteris mors est. 
Love.— Love is blind. 

Love hides a multitude of faults. 
Love laughs at locksmiths. 
Love knows no faults. 
Lying.— Lying rides on debt's back. 

A lie will travel round the world, while the truth 
is getting on his horse, 
Madness.— Those whom the gods wish to destroy they 
first make mad. 

There's method in man's madness. 
Manner.— Manner makyth man. — William of Wykeham. 
An injury is frequently done to the cause of truth 
by the manner some men attempt to defend it. 
Good manners are made of petty sacrifices. 

— R. W. Emerson. 

Master.— (See Control.) 

Mention.— Speak of the wolf, and you see his tail. Speak 
of the angels, and you hear the fluttering of 
their wings. 

Speak of the devil, and his imp will appear. 
Midway.— The middle station is surest. 

In a medium course you will be safest. 
Happy are they who have kept the middle 
course. 

Between all extremes there is a happy medium. 
Might.— Might is right. 

Mischief. — A mischievous dog must be tied short. 



154 



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Misfortuneg.— Misfortunes never come singly. Misfor- 
tune does not always come to injure. (It.) 
Misfortunes are sometimes blessings in disguise. 
Modesty.— The wisest man in general is the man who 

does not think he is so. 
Money.— Money is the root of all evil. 

Money is both blood and life to man. (L,at.) 
Moving.— A rolling stone gathers no moss. 
Three moves are equal to a fire. 
A setting hen never grows fat. 
Name.— A good name is a second inheritance. (Iyat.) 

A good name is better to be chosen than great 
riches. — The Bible. 

A good name is better than a golden girdle. 

(Fr.) 

Necessity.— Necessity is a powerful weapon. (I,at.) 
Necessity is the mother of invention. 
Necessity knows no law. 
Necessity is a hard weapon. 
Necessity is a stern master. 
One cannot make an omelette without breaking 
the eggs. 

Negligence. Negligence makes the thief. 
Newness.— Feeding in new fields makes fat cattle. 

New brooms sweep clean. 
Nobility.— The eagle does not stoop to catch flies. 
Obstinacy.— Better be a fool than obstinate. 
Offered Service.— Proffered service stinks. 

Proffered service is little valued. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



155 



Opportunity.— The year has a wide mouth and a big 
stomach. 

Opportunity comes to every man once in life. 
Opportunity is bald behind. 

Partiality.— The rat eats the sugar cane, and the innocent 
lizard dies for it. 

Past, The.— Water past will not turn the mill. 

Patience.— Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet. 

A patient mind is the best remedy for affliction. 
Everything comes to him who waits. 
Peace. — listen, look, and hold your tongue, if you 
would live in peace. (Lat.) Audi, vidi, /ace, 
sivis vivere in pace. 
People, Voice of.— The voice of the people is the voice of 
God. (Lat.) Vox populi, vox Dei. 

Persistence.— Continued practice can accomplish every- 
thing. 

Practice makes perfect. 
A continued dropping wears away a stone. 
Picture.— A picture is a poem without words. 
Plenty.— plenty makes daintiness. 
Possession.— A bird in hand is worth two in the bush. 

One cannot make an omelette without breaking 
the eggs. 

Poverty. -Poverty is the mother of all arts. (It.) 

Poverty with honesty is better than ill-acquired 
wealth. (Lat.) Honesta paupertas prior quam 
opes malae. 



156 THE COMPOSER'S ERIENP, 

They do not easily rise in the world whose talents 
are depressed by poverty. Haud facile emergunt 
quorum virtutibus abstat res augusta domi. 
Precaution.— Excess of precaution can do no harm. 

Happy is he whom the horns of others make 
wary. 

Happy is he whom the perils of others put on his 
guard. 

Precedent.— We must judge according to law, not by 
precedent. (Lat.) Judicandum est legibus, non 
exemplis. 

Pron ise.— The man who is the most slow in promising, 
is the most sure to keep his word. 

Quarrels, Lovers'.— The quarrels of lovers are the renew- 
als of love. (Iyat. ) 

Quietude.— My sou, pluck the goose without making it 
scream . 

Reputation.— The higher the rise the greater the fall. (It. ) 

He who climbs too high is near a fall. (It.) 
Scandal.— Scandal is the devil's instrument. 

Nothing travels swifter than scandal. (Iyat.) 
Fama nihil est celerius. 
Scholarship.— The greatest scholars are not always the 

wisest men. (Lat.) 
Self. — Every one feels his own burden heavy. (Fr.) 
Fight not in another man's concerns. (I^at.) 
Every crow thinks its own feathers the whitest. 
The cockroach never wins his cause when the 
chicken is the judge. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIKND 



157 



With every bird its own nest is charming. (I^at. ) 
The wearer best knows where the shoe pinches 
him. 

Man is blind to his own faults, but quick to per- 
ceive those of others. (Lat.) 

We have the vices of others always before our 
eyes, — our own behind our backs. 

(New Version.) We put others' faults in a 
wheelbarrow and roll along in front of us, 
while our own we put in a sack and hide behind 
our backs. 

Selfishness.— He who eats his dinner alone, must saddle 
his horse by himself. 

To one who has a pie in the oven, you may give 
a piece of your cake. • 
Self =Reliance.— Heaven helps those who help themselves. 
Silence.— 5il ence j s golden. 

Silence gives consent. 

He who is silent, consents. (L,at.) Qui tacet 
consentit. 

Slander.— giander is the devil's instrument. 
Smallness.— Qood ointments are in small boxes. 

The most costly jewels come in small packages. 
Steadiness.— Steadiness is the foundation of all virtue. 
Strangers.— Be not forgetful to entertain strangers; for 
often ye entertain angels unawares. 

He may lie boldly who comes from afar. (Fr.) 

There are many persons who are esteemed only 
because they are not known. (Fr.) 
Sorrow.— Behind every mountain lies a valley. 



158 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Light sorrows speak, great grief is dumb. 
The darkest hour is just before day. 
Every cloud has a silver liniug. 
Success.— Success makes some sorts of wickedness 
appear honorable. (L,at.) Honesta quaedam 
scelera successus facit. 
Thief.— The flying thief may not be a very popular man, 

but he has a large following. 
Timidity.— The timid never erected a trophy. (Lat.) 

He who would make himself a sheep is devoured 
by the wolves. (Fr.) 

He who makes himself a dove is devoured by 
the hawk. (It.) 
Trial.— He confesses his crime who flees from judg- 
ment. (L,at.) Fatetur is qui judicium fugit. 
Trouble.— Never trouble trouble until trouble troubles 
you. 

Trust.— The dog that licks ashes is not to be trusted 
with flour. (It.) 

Trust no man until you have eaten a bushel of 
salt with him. 
Truth.— The truth is not always probable. (Fr.) 

The truth lies between two extremes. 

Truth and oil come to the surface. (Port.) 

He is a free man whom the truth makes free. 
Unanimity.— A common danger produces unanimity. 
Vanity.— Vanity is the parent of shame. (Fr.) 
Vigilance — A watched pot never boils. 
Virtue.— Virtue is the only nobility. (Fr.) 
Weakness.— Pull gently at a weak rope. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Will.— spur not a willing horse. 

Wise, The— A word is enough to the wise. 

Better be wise than rich. 

A word to the wise is sufficient. 
Woman.— The tongue of a woman is her sword, which 
she seldom suffers to rust. (Fr.) 

A woman, when inflamed by love or hatred, 
will dare everything. 

A goat, a goose, and a 'woman are bad things 
lean. (Port.) 

A woman either loves or hates: there is no 
medium — her passions are ever in extremes. 
(I^at.) Aut amat } aut odit mulier; nil teitium est. 

A woman and a hen are soon lost through gad- 
ding. (Port.) 

An ever-changeful and capricious thing is 
woman. (Iyat.) Varium et multabile semper 
faemina. 

Youtb.— Youth is the seed time of life. 



i6o 



the composer's friend. 



SECTION III. 

Bmericanisms, Briticisms, Etc., m Cur* 
rent Xllse. 

\_Note : The dash is used when phrases have parts in 
common, e. g., soar as kraut ; — a crab- apple ; — vinega? ; 
— swill , — an old maid; — a lemon , means, il sour as 
kraut ; sour as a cra^-apple ; sour as vinegar ; sour as 
swill; sour as an old maid ; sour as a lemon."~] 

Abandonment.— To draw in one's horns; to take in one's 
sails; to drop like a hot cake; — potato; to get rid 
of; to have other fish to fry; to shut up shop; to 
throw up the sponge; — the game; to go under; to 
to turn over a new leaf; to wash one's hands of. 
(See Surrender.) 

Abundance.— See Plenitude. 

Abuse.— To abuse like a trooper; — a dog; — a pickpocket; 
to come down upon like a thousand brick; to give 
" Hail, Columbia; " — down the country, — fits. 

Accusation.— To brand; to lay at one's door; to nail to 
the cross. 

Acidity.— Sour as kraut ; — a crab-apple ; — vinegar; — 
swill; — an old maid; — a lemon. 
(See Sourness.) 
Acquaintance.— To know the ropes; — the cards; — to run 
with the hounds; to be in the ring; — the plot. 



THE) COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



161 



Activity.— To be up and about; — doing; to put in the 
oar; to have a hand in; to thrust the nose in; to 
look sharp; to kick up dust; — sand; to leave no 
stone unturned; to sweep the table; to take time 
by the forelock; to make hay while the sun 
shines; to strike the iron while it is hot; to go 
full length; to kill two birds with one stone; nim- 
ble as a lamp-lighter; busy as a bee; — a hen with 
one chicken; brisk as a bee; nimble as a squirrel; 
active as a cat. 

Acumen. -To play one's cards well; to cut one's coat ac- 
cording to the cloth; sharp as a needle; — razor 
soup; — a razor; — a woman's tongue; keen as a 
briar; — a razor; to know the ropes; an artist; a 
master. 

Adherence.— To lay or stick to like a hen to a dough 
pile; — a sick kitten to a hot brick; — a sow to a 
swill barrel; — a duck to a mill pond; to cling like 
ivy to the oak; to be tooth and toe-nail for; like 
Shylock after his pound of flesh; like Banquo's 
ghost, it will not down; to stick to like a leech: 
to stick to like the shirt of Nessus; to stick to 
like death to a dead " injun." 

Admiration.— gee IyOve. 

Admitted Fact.— To go without saying; no question about 

it; the universal verdict. 
Age.- Old as the Pyramids of Egypt; old as Adam; — 

history; — the world ; — creation ; — Methuselah ; — 



l62 THE COMPOSER S FRIEND. 

the hills; — the everlasting hills f gray as a rat; 
" ancient as the sun." 
(See Old Age.) 
Aggravation. -To throw the fat into the fire; to add fuel 
to the flame; to apply the match; to fan the 
flame. 

Agitation. - See Disturbance. 

Agreement.— To sing the same tune; to come to an un- 
derstanding; thick as hops; — two in a pod; of one 
accord, or mind; to run with the hounds; regu- 
ular as clockwork; Damon and Pythias. 

Amusement.— To be in high glee; to go on a bender; to 
cut up didoes; to cut monkey shines; to spree. 

Anger.— To look daggers; loaded for bear; on the war 
path; having blood in the eye; the blood boiling 
in one's veins; blood on the moon; one's dander 
being up; to make one ashy; to get one's Adam 
up; on one's hind legs; to stir up one's bile; to 
swear revenge, or vengeance; to pour out the 
phials of one's wrath; to show one's teeth; to 
make one's blood boil. 

Approval.— To applaud to the echo; to strike a popular 
chord; to raise in one's estimation; to bring down 
the house; to sound the praises of. 

Arraignment.— To stir up; to make it uncomfortably 
warm for one; to bring one to task; to bring to 
book; to call to account; to build a fire under, or 
behind one. 

Ascription.— " Hence these tears;" the saddle on the 
right horse; to lay at one's door. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



163 



Assail.— To knock a chip off the shoulder; to throw 
down the gauntlet; to pitch into; to have a spite 
at; to lift the hatchet; to lift a hand against; to 
show fight; to take the bull by the horns; to get 
on one's spurs; to get miffed; to have blood in the 
eye; to hunt for bear. 

Assistance.— To take up the cudgel for; to lend a help- 
ing hand; to give a lift; to pay the piper; to pave 
the way for; to help a lame dog over a stile. 

Astonishment.— To look amazed; who would have thought 
it? the hair standing on end; struck all of a 
heap; one's self completely scattered; to look 
blank; not to know one's head from the heels; to 
turn up the eyes; like a duck in a thunderstorm. 

Attention.— To lend a listening ear to; to catch one's 
ear; to trouble one's head about. 

Auxiliary.— To be one's mascot; — man Friday; — right 
hand man; — right hand bower; — guardian angel; 
chief cook and bottle washer. 

Avoidance.— To fight shy of; to give a clean path; to 
feed with a long spoon; to make one's self scarce; 
to steer clear of. 

Bashfulness.— See Sensitiveness. 

Battle. — To unsheath the sword; to dig up the hatchet; 
to put on war paint; to go on the war path; hav- 
ing blood in one's eye; out for blood; loaded for 
bear; with sword in hand; to let slip the dogs of 
war; to give battle; to measure arms; — to 
cross swords; to call to account; to appeal to the 
sword. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Beauty.— A perfect picture ; — beauty ;--Venus ;= — Cleo- 
patra; a living picture; as pretty as a pink; — a 
peach; — a picture; — an apple; beautiful as Cleo- 
patra; the very soul of beauty; a Grecian model. 

Belligerence.— See Hostility. 

Betrayal.— To turn informer; to let the cat out of the 
bag, or wallet; to peach, squeal, or go back on 
one; to give one away; turn State's evidence. 

Birth.— To see the light; to draw the infant breath; to 
breathe one's first. 

Blackness.— As black as the core of Cheop's pyramid; 
black as pitch; — a pot; — a crow; — the Egyptian 
nights; — ink; — soot; — a hat; — shoe; — the ace of 
spades ; — November ; — a thundercloud ; — Erebus; 
dark as midnight. 

Blindness.— Blind as a bat; — a shoe heel; mooneyed; 
myopic ; presbyopic ; goggle-eyed ; mope-eyed; 
lippitude ; chromatopsendoblepsis. 

Blunder.— See Clumsiness. 

Boastfulness.— To spout;— blow off; in high feather; big 
I and little you; to shoot off; to talk through 
one's hat. 

Bravery.— To take the bull by the horns; to face the 
music; to show a stiff upper lip; to brave the 
storm; to bell the cat; as brave as a lion; — a cock 
on his own dunghill; as bold as brass; game as a 
cock. 
(See Courage.) 

Breadth.-See Width. 



the composer's friend. 165 

Brevity.— Here to-day and gone to-morrow; a nine-days- 
wonder; a mere breakfast spell; a summer 
shower; ot mushroom growth; one's days being 
numbered; " like a tale that is told; " a flash; a 
wink; a breath; to subside like a soap bubble. 

Brightness. — Bright as noon-day; — the sun; — silver; — an 
electric spark; — a button; — a star; — lightning. 

Brown.— Brown as a berry; — a chestnut. 

Carelessness.— Careless as a cook; — a boarding house mis- 
tress. 
(See Recklessness.) 

Caution.— To feel one's way; to be on the safe side; to 
keep at a respectful distance; to sound one; to 
see how the drop falls; to feed with a long spoon; 
to cut one's coat according to the cloth; to count 
the cost; to see which way the cat jumps. 

Certainty.— D ea( i to rights; sure as death; — taxes;- fate; 
— a gun. 
(See System.) 

Challenge.— To throw down the gauntlet; to show one's 
teeth; to show a bold front; to set at naught. 
(See Defiance.) 

Chance.— See Opportunity.) 

Change.— Out of the smoke into the flame; out of the 
frying pan into the fire; to swap the devil for the 
witch. 

Changeableness.— As changeable as the wind; — the shade; 
as unstable as water. 
(See Mutability.) 



i66 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIKND. 



Charity.— Having a large heart; heart in,the right place; 

man's humanity to man. 
Chastisement.— See Punishment. 
Chastity.— See Virtue. 
Cheapness.— Cheap as dirt; — air. 

Cleanness.— Clean as a penny; — a plate; — a whistle; — a 
sheet. 

Clearness.— Clear as glass; — a crystal ; — noon-day; — a 
whistle; plain as day; — your nose on your face; — 
a pikestaff. 

Closeness.— Close as wax; — the skin on one's head. 

Clumsiness.— One's fingers being ali thumbs; having too 
many eggs in one basket; — too many irons in the 
fire; to quarrel with one's bread and butter; to 
throw a stone in one's own garden; to stand in 
one's own light; to put one's foot in it; to make 
a mess of; to put the cart before the horse; an in- 
glorious fizzle. 

Coherence.— To stick like wax; — a leech; to cling like a 
burr; — ivy to the oak, or wall; to hang on like a 
puppy to a root; close as wax. 

Coldness.— Cold as ice; — charity; — death; — December; — 
the polar regions; — the frozen regions of the 
North ; — an ice house; — an ice-berg; — the frigid 
zone; — Christmas; — a frog; — a stone; — marble; — 
clay; cool as a cucumber; — a custard. 

Completeness. — In apple-pie order ; in ship-shape ; in 
trim. 

Composure.— To swallow the dose; — the pill; take the 
medicine or leave the hospital; to make up one's 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



I6 7 



mind to; to become reconciled to; to pocket the 
affront; to bear it like a philosopher; to kiss the 
rod; as patient as Job; meek as a lamb; calm as a 
summer sea; — a zephyr; cool as a custard; — a 
cucumber. 

Compulsion.— To make one toe the mark; to walk a chalk 
line; to make dance to the music; to pin down; 
to put under the lash. 

Concealment. — To keep one's peace; — tongue; to be one's 
own counselor; with closed doors; behind the 
scenes; to keep in the dark; to hide under a 
bushel; to keep the cat in the bag. 

Concurrence.— To sing the same tune; to be in the same 
boat; to bark up the same tree. 

Condition.— According to circumstance; as the case may 
be; as it may happen; according to how the drop 
falls. 

Confusion. — The wheels of Janus being turned loose; 
pandemonium reigned; most admirable disorder; 
the hounds of hades being turned loose; hell 
being' broke loose; the fat being thrown into the 
fire; fuel added to the flames; a pretty kettle of 
fish; by fits and starts; the cart before the horse; 
hurry-skurry; helter-skelter; pell-mell. 

Conscience.— The voice of conscience; the still, small 
voice within; to lie at one's door; an affair of 
one's own; on one's own responsibility; to feel 
the force of the argument. 



THE COMPOSER'S ERIEND. 



Contentment.— To let well enough alone; a flow of spirits; 

the soul of satisfaction; the core of contentment; 

to set one's heart at rest. 
Continuity.— To keep the ball rolling; to keep up the 

dance; — the music; to keep on the even tenor of 

one's way. 
Corpulence. -See Fatness. 

Courage.— With a high hand; to keep a stiff upper lip; 
to screw one's courage up to the sticking point; to 
nail one's colors to the mast; to swim the Helles- 
pont; to scale the Alps; to pass the Rubicon; the 
Horatio at the bridge; the L,eonidas at Thermopy- 
lae; the Admiral Crichton; the jack-of-all- trades; 
firm as a rock; — the rock of Gibraltar; — the hills; 
— the everlasting hills; — the foundations of the 
earth; steady as time. 

Craftiness.— To steal a march on; to throw off one's 
guard; as crafty as Ulysses; as sly as a fox; — a 
Scotchman; as cunning as a Jew; — a Yankee. 

Crankiness.— See Insanity. 

Crazlness.— Crazy as a louse; — a chinch; — a bed-bug: 
Crookedness.— Crooked as a ram's horn; — a tlog's hind 

leg; — a snake; — a rail fence; as labyrinthical as a 

streak of lightning. 
Crossness.— See Ill-nature. 
Cunning.— Cunning as a fox; sly as a coon. 
Custom.— To tread the beaten paths; the order of the 

day; when with foxes, play the fox; — in Rome, 

do as Rome does. 
(See Habit.) 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



169 



Danger.— Between two stools ; — two fires ; — Scylla and 
Charybdis; — the hawk and the buzzard; — the dog 
and the wolf; — the devil and the deep, blue sea; — 
two mill stones; to hang by a thread; on the 
brink of a precipice; the Damoclesan sword; an 
enfilade; to tread on dangerous ground; in a strait 
betwixt two. 

Deafness.— Deaf as a post; — a trunk-maker; — miller; — a 
beetle; — a door nail. 

Death.— To pass in one's checks; to <; shuffle off this 
dull mortality;" — "this mortal coil;" to quit 
this mortal sphere; — this earthly habitation; to 
turn ones toes up to the sun; to quit this mundane 
sphere; to kick the bucket; to pass off the stage 
of action; to give up the ghost; to put an end to; 
to put to sleep; to put a head on; to put a quietus 
upon; to end one's earthly existence; to put to 
the sword; to make daylight shine through; to 
strike the death knell; — the death blow; having 
one foot in the grave and the other just out; to go 
off like the snuff of a candle ; to cross the Stygian 
waters; one's days being numbered; to go the 
way of all the world; to make one's will; dead as 
Hector; — a hammer; — a butcher's block; — mut- 
ton; — a door nail; — a herring; — a mackerel ; — a 
door post; — a shoe heel; — nets; — Chelsea. 

Deceit. -To pull the wool over one's eyes; to make a 
fool of one; to gild the pill; to throw a tub to the 
whale; to make one believe the moon is made of 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



green cheese; a painted sepulchre; a wolf in 
sheep's clothing; a snake in the grass. 

Deception.— Xo sail under false colors; to steal the livery 
of heaven to serve the devil in; a wolf in sheep's 
clothing; to sham Abraham; to play fast and 
loose; to throw a tub to the whale; to spin yarns; 
to beat about the bush; to lie like a clever fellow; 
— a conjurer; — a fortune teller; — an auctioneer; 
crockodile tears; shoe-makar's promises; a fish 
tale; as false as dicers' oaths. 

Declaration.— I n a ll conscience; God being my judge; to 
swear till one is black in the face; I'll pledge my 
word; — my honor; — reputation; I assure you. 
(See Oath.) 

Defamation. To damn with faint praise; to besmirch 
one's robe, or garment; to take the starch out of; 
to knock the wind out of; to clip one's wings. 

Defeat.— Xo go to grass; to bite the dust; to go up in 
smoke — in the air; to flicker; to flounder; to fall 
flat; to knock the wind out of; to throw up the 
sponge; to play quits; to knock the props from 
under; to hoist the white flag; to show the white 
feather; to go under; to row up salt river; in the 
soup; a water haul. 
(See Deficiency.) 

Defiance.— To snap one's fingers; to throw down the 
gauntlet; not to care a straw, fig, snap, or pin 
for; to set at naught; to shake off as dewdrops 
from the lion's mane; to lay in the shade; to set 
a merry pace; to go him one; to call him. 



the composer's friend. 



171 



Deficiency.— To haul in one's horns; to sing small; to 
sing a different tune; to change one's tune; to 
turn up the wrong card; the sport of fortune; to 
shoot at a pigeon, and kill a crow; to go to Pales- 
tine to kill a Turk and come back with a notion; 
to bark up the wrong tree; to bring down a but- 
ton hole lower; to catch a Tartar; to get the 
wrong sow by the ear; like the French monarch 
who marched his army up the hill, and then 
marched down again; to come out of the little 
end of the horn; to be thrown on one's beam 
ends; to end in smoke; to hang fire; to bite the 
dust; to play out; to eat humble pie; to miss the 
mark. 
(See Defeat.) 

Deformity.— To beggar description; out of one's element; 
neither fish nor stone; — flesh nor fowl, nor yet a 
red herring; without a parallel; a Chinese puzzle; 
a ninedays' wonder; a miserable abortion. 
(See Ugliness.) 

Dejection.— Out of sorts; — countenance; to take the 
starch out of one; — the wind out of one's sails; to 
bring down a button-hole lower; to eat crow; — 
humble pie; down in the mouth; to haul down 
one's colors; to lower one's flag; to clip one's 
wings. 
(See Humiliation.) 

Delay.— To wait and see which way the cat jumps; 
owing to whether the drop falls; according to 
how the wind blows; to hang fire; to hem and 



172 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



haw; not to know one's own mind; a day after 
the feast; at the eleventh hour; a day after the 
fair; an afternoon man. 
(See Indecision.) 

Departure.— See Escape. 

Dependence.— See Service. 

Depth.— Deep as a well; — the sea; — the earth. 

Despotism.— To lay the law down to; to make toe the 
mark; to put to the lash; — one's nose to the grind- 
stone; to put on the screw; to lord it over; to lay 
a heavy hand upon; to rule with an iron rod, or 
hand; at the point of the sword. 

Destruction.— To grow small by degrees, and beautifully 
less; to go to the dogs; to make hash of; to go to 
wreck; to go to smash; to make a clean sweep of; 
to make mince meat of; to pluck up by the roots; 
to grind to powder. 

Difficulty.— Against the grain; to stick in the mud; 
thrown on one's beam ends; to fish in troubled 
waters; to hold an opossum by the ears; — an eel 
by the tail; to skin an eel. 

Diminution.— To get scarce; to grow small by degrees, and 
beautifully less; to subside; to hide aw 7 ay; to hide 
its diminished head. 

Disability.— See Weakness. 

Disagreement.— To live like cats and dogs; a hand to 
hand fight; a passage at arms; to be at arms; — 
loggerheads; to join issue; to run counter; to try 
conclusions with; to measure swords. 
(See Discord.) 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



173 



Disapproval.— To get after one with a sharp stick,- to 
take the starch out of one; to take one's sails 
down; to haul one over the coals; to have a crow 
to pick with one; a slap in the face; to knit the 
brows; to pick a flaw in; to take to task; to bring 
to book; to be under a cloud; to knock the spots 
out of one; to knock the socks off" of one; to 
abuse like a pickpocket. 

Disclosure.— To let the cat out of the wallet; to leak out; 
to come to the surface, or light; to show, or turn 
up; to make a clean breast of; to own up to the 
corn; to peak. 

Discomfort.— To be on pins and needles; to be on thorns; 
to be in a hornet's nest; to put on the rack; to 
build a fire under one; hence these tears; like a 
toad under the harrow; — a worm in an ant bed; — 
a mouse in an oven. 

Discontent.— gee Unhappiness. 

Discontinuance.— To hang up the fiddle; to shut up shop; 
to play quits; to sing the doxology; a change 
came over the spirit of his dreams. 

Discord.— To give the lie; to shake the head; to stroke 
the beard; to bite the fingers; to shrug the shoul- 
ders; in hot water; up in arms; at sixes and 
sevens; at daggers' points; to live like cats and 
dogs; to go against the grain; — the stomach; to 
turn up the nose at; at loggerheads; at sword's 
point; at odds with; at outs; on the warpath; 
loaded for bear; got on one's war paint; on one's 
hind legs; out of tune; — season; to join issue. 



174 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Discovery.— See Disclosure. 
Disease.— See Sickness. 

Dismissal.— To walk the plank; to press brick; to work 
for Street and Walker; to give one his walking 
papers; to give the grand bounce. 
(See Expulsion.) 

Disorder.— See Confusion. 

Disruption.— To feed with a long spoon; to give one the 
cold shoulder; to give the go by; to make faces 
at; to spoil the pudding. 

Dissimilarity.— Vary like a whale; as like a dock as a 
daisy; as much alike as chalk and cheese. 

Distance.— Distance lends enchantment to the view; from 
Maine to Texas; from New York to California; 
from Dan to Beersheba; from Peru to China; 
from A to Z; — alpha to omega; — head to foot; 
— center to circumference; — pole to pole; to the 
jumping off place; to the ends of the earth; to 
the uttermost parts of the earth; over the hills 
and far away. 
(See Extent.) 

Disturbance. -To be all atop; to be the sport of wind and 
waves; to shake like an aspen leaf; to be all up- 
set; to shake from center to circumference; to fall 
like water on a red hot stove; — like a fire- 
cracker in a crowd of girls; like a hawk in a 
drove of quails; a fox in a flock of ducks; a 
mouse in a room full of women; like a thunder 
clap from a clear sky. 
(See Noise.) 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



175 



Doubt.— To take with a grain of salt; a fish tale; a 

fairy tale; a cock and bull story. 
(See Suspicion, Falsehood.) 
Drink.— To gulp; gulp down; to guzzle; guzzle down; 

to swill; to craunch; munch; to empty one's 

glass; to take a horn; to take a smoke; to wet 

one's whistle. 

Drunkenness— Having more sail than ballast; top-heavy; 
on a lark; on a high old lonesome; on a big ben- 
der; tight; to spree; boozy; groggy; drunk as a 
sailor; — a wheelbarrow; — a dog; — a fiddler; — a 
piper; — an owl; — a lord; — David's sow; — Chloe. 

Dryness.— Dry a s a biscuit; — a chip; — a bone; — ashes; — 
leaves; — dust; — a mummy; — a stick. 

Dullness.— Dull as a froe; — a beetle; — lead; — a butter 
knife ; — bilge- water. 

Duplicity.— A wolf in sheep's clothing; to hold with the 
hare and run with hounds; to play pig and puppy, 
too; fast and loose; to blow hot and cold; to Tyler - 
ize on one; a Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde; to play hawk 
and buzzard, too; — lion and lamb; — saint and sin- 
ner; — servant and master, etc; having two sides 
to one's nature; — to one's coat; chameleon-like; 
two faced; Janus- faced. 

Durability.— Till dooms-day; till the crack of doom; till 
judgment day; till Gabriel blows his trumpet; 
forever and a day; the law of Medesand Persians; 
to last as long as a snow-flake in a frying pan; 
more lasting than brass; as enduring as the ever- 



176 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



lasting hills; "rock-ribbed and ancient as the 

sun." 
Duty.— See Conscience. 
Earliness.— See Quickness. 
Ease.— See Facility. 

Economy.— To cut one's coat according to the cloth ; to 
make both ends meet; to keep the wolf from the 
door; to lay up for rainy days; to let one's horses 
trot now in order that they may run after awhile. 

Efficiency.— See Courage. 

Eloquence.— See Grace. 

Emptiness. - Kmpty as a barrel; — a sieve. 

End.— At the end of one's tether; — rope; ne plus ultra; 
the turning point; finale; to shut up shop; to 
break up house-keeping; the fall of the curtain; 
to sing the doxology; to pass in one's checks; to 
subside like a soap bubble; to play quits; the 
the end of the dance; to end (or shrink) like a 
pricked bladder; Jini de patler (Fr.) 
(See Finality.) 

Endurance.— See Composure. 

Energy.— To force the issue; to cut fore and aft; to cut 
a wide swath; to come down like a thousand 
brick; to make the wool, or fur, fly; to work 
with a vengeance; — with might and main; — like a 
Trojan horse. 
(See Vigor, Exertion.) 

Equipment. -To make one's cabbage fat; feather one's 
nest; to lay up for a rainy day. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



177 



Equivocation.— To beat about the bush; to beg the ques- 
tion; to lead a pretty dance. 

Error.— To get the wrong sow by the ear; to speak 
through one's hat; to bark up the wrong tree; to 
wake up the wrong passenger; to catch a Tartar; 
to reckon without one's host. 
(See Mistake.) 

Escape.— To give leg bail; to take French leave; to skip; 
to play quits; to take bag and baggage; to stand 
not on the order of one's going; to absquatulate; 
to make one's self scarce; to beat a retreat; to 
fold one's tent, like the Arabs, and as silently 
steal away; to weigh anchor; to pull up stakes; 
to make tracks; to slope; to slip the collar. 

Esteem.— To bear away the palm; to wear the blue rib- 
bon; to win one's spurs; — laurels; a halo of glory; 
a niche in the temple of fame; a feather in one's 
cap. 
(See Victory. ) 

Evenness.— See Smoothness. 

Evidence.— To speak for itself ; "he who runs may read ; ' ' 
to show its colors; to throw off the mask; to tell 
its own tale; plain as day; — noon-day; — a pike- 
staff; your nose on your face; to expose to view; 
to bring to light; — the surface; to show one's 
hand; so plain that a blind man can see. 
(See Proof. ) 

Exaggeration.— To make an elephant of a fly; — a moun- 
tain of a mole hill; to strain at a gnat and swal- 
low a camel; — a hatchet and swallow a broad-axe; 



i 7 8 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



to stretch a point; much cry and little wool; 

much ado about nothing; all his geese are swans. 
Examination. — To lay under the microscope; to hold up 

to the light; to submit to the crucial test; to take 

into consideration; to turn on the calcium light; 

to pass in review; to ventilate; to put to the test; 

to put in the balance; to put in the crucible. 
Excellence.— Of full length;— width; all wool and a yard 

wide; of good metal; — blood; of royal blood. 
(See Goodness.) 
Excess.— To split one's blanket; to tear one's shirt; to 

befoul one's nest; to run a thing into the ground; 

to overdo a thing; to strain a point; to burst a 

trace. 
(See Extravagance. ) 
Excitement.— See Irritability. 

Exertion.— To work like a trooper; — a beaver; — a Trojan 
horse; — bees; to work with oars and sails; — 
tooth and nail; — might and main; to make a 
strong pull, a long pull, and a pull all-together; 
to put your best foot foremost; to out-herod 
Herod; to strain every nerve; to make every edge 
cut that can; to drive a double team; to put one's 
best leg foremost; to make a Herculean effort; to 
work like a galley slave; to have two irons in the 
fire; to work like hammer and tongs; to leave 
no stone unturned. 
(See Energy, Vigor.) 

Expectation.— On the anxious seat; on the lookout; — the 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



179 



qui vive; to keep a sharp lookout; — both eyes 
open; to be on one's guard; with bated breath. 

Expulsion.— To give the grand bounce; to show the door 
to one; to give one his walking papers; to make a 
clean sweep of; to throw overboard. 
(See Dismissal.) 

Extent.— From trap-door to garret; — Alpha to Omega; — 
A to Z; — roof to turret; — head to foot; — top to 
bottom; — beginning to end; — pole to pole; — cen- 
ter to circumference; — ocean to ocean; — sea to sea; 
— Main to California; — to Texas; — China to Peru; 
— base to turret; — North to South; — East to 
West; — mountain to mountain; throughout the 
length and breadth of the land; far and near; in 
all climes; having scarcely standing room; — 
breathing space. 
(See Distance.) 

Extravagance.— To burn the candle at both ends; no more 
use for than a cat for a satin dress; — a sow for 
side-pockets; — a hog has for holiday; — a hog 
has for Sunday ; to ' ' break a butterfly on a 
wheel; " to employ a steam engine to crack a nut; 
to stop up the spigot, and let run out at the bung- 
hole; penny wise and pound foolish; to out-run the 
constable; to throw the helve after the hatchet; 
to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs; to 
pour water into a sieve; in one hand and out 
the other; loose-handed; casting pearls before 
swine. 
(See Excess. ) 



i8o 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Facility.— To give one a clear track ; to give full sway ; — 
play; to go off on schedule time; to go with the 
stream; a holiday task; a breakfast spell; a nine- 
days' wonder; a jug-handle affair; piping days; 
like greased lightning. 

Fact— it goes without saying; without question; an 
admitted fact: a brazen fact; gilt-edged truth. 

Failure.— See Deficiency. 

Faithfulness.— As true as the stars are to each other; — 
the sun to its course; — the needle to the pole; 
Pythias-like. 

Fallacy.— To beg the question; to reason in a circle; to 
talk through one's hat; to be off one's base; 
to split hairs; to cut blocks with a razor; to talk 
at random. 
(See Folly.) 

Falsehood.— A fish tale; a cock-and-bull story; a fairy 
tale; a Canterbury tale; a mare's nest; a white 
lie; a pious fraud; mental reservation; a Judas 
kiss; false as a conjurer; — shoemakers' promises; 
— dicers' oaths. 
(See Doubt, Suspicion.) 

Fancy.— To dream day dreams; to build air castles; in 
the mind's eye; " thick-coming fancies; " a flight 
of fancy; " a fine frenzy; a flurry of the nerves ; 
a fish tale; a canterbury tale; a ghost story; the 
man in the moon; the flying Dutchman; a rope of 
sand; too thin to hold water. 

Fat.— Fat on both sides; plump as a pigeon; fat as 
butter; — a shoat; — a hog; — lard; — a duck; round 



THE composer's friend. 



181 



as a butter ball; fat as brawn; — bacon; — a bear; — 
a buck; — a quail; — an alderman; plump as a dump- 
ling. 

Fawning.— To feed one on soft corn; to give one taffy; 
to curry favor with; to lay it on thick; to soft 
soap; to soft sorder; to hang on the sleeve of; to 
lay the flattering unction to the soul; to tickle. 
(See Flattery.) 

Fear.— To tremble in one's boots; weak at the knees; 
to tremble like an aspen leaf; as frightened as a 
March hare; as white as a sheet; as pale as death. 

Fervence.— See Heat. 

Fierceness.— Fierce as a wolf robbed of her whelps; 
fierce as a tiger; — a wild cat; violent as a March 
storm; — a maniac; — a gale; a perfect terror; a 
Bengal tiger. 

Fighting.— A game cock; a war horse; a guerrilla; a 
Turk; a Cossack; a Sepoy; a fire-eater; a janis- 
sary; fire-and-tow; as courageous as a Turk; des- 
perate as a guerrilla; game as a cock. 

Filth. — Filthy as the Augean stables; — a sewer; — a 
swill barrel; foul as the tomb. 

Finality.— The end of the play; fall of the curtain; to 
break up housekeeping; to shut up shop; the home 
stretch; the die being cast; to play quits; to sing 
the doxology. 
(See End.) 

Fineness.— Fine as silk; — a fiddle; — a fresh scraped car- 
rot; — a May-day queen; — a five pence; — frog hair. 
Firmness— As firm as the granite of the everlasting 



182 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



hills; — the pillars of Solomon's temple; -the rock 

of ages; — the Chinese wall. 
(See Strength.) 
Flatness.— Flat as a flounder; — a pancake; — my hand; — 

a board; — a shingle; — a fritter. 
Flatterer— A hanger-on; a toady;, a whitewasher; a 

flunky; a lick-spittle; a toad-eater; a spaniel; 

a clawback; a pick-thank; a splicer; a trimmer. 
Flattery.— To pat on the shoulder; to cast a sheep's eye 

at one; to flirt with; to play the spider to one's 

fly; to set one's cap for; to soft soap; to soft 

sorder. 
(See Fawning.) 
Following.— To follow in the wake, or the footsteps of; 

to bring up the rear; to lag behind; to follow like 

a shadow; — a puppy tied to a string; — a dog's 

tail; to be tied to one's apron string. 
Folly.— To expect blood out of a turnip; to go to a 

goat's house for wool. 
(See Nonsense, Futility.) 
Fondness.— See Flattery. 

Fool— A clodpole; a ninny; a loot; a goose; an ass; a 
cracked-head; a wooden-head; a booby; a loon; 
a dullard; a clodhopper; a chicken; a lubber; a 
numb skull; a loggerhead. 

Foolishness. See Nonsense. 

Forgiveness.— See Peace. 

Frailty.— A rope of sand; an air-castle; a reed; a house 
of cards; a string for a backbone; a house built 
upon the sand; on one's last legs; not having any 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



backbone; a reed shaken by the wind; weak as 
a child; — a gosling; — a cat; — a kitten; — a chicken; 
— boarding-house so up ; — water ; — gingerbread . — 
a new born babe; of the milk and water sort; a 
tenderfoot. . 

Freedom.— To take liberty with; to drive one's own 
horses; to fly with one's own wings; to stand on 
one's own legs; to make free with; to have the 
run of; to give a wide path to; to take French 
leave; to have one's own way; to give leg bail; 
free as a lark; — water; — air; — the birds of the air. 

Freshness.— Just out of the shell; fresh as paint; — water; 
— spring water; — dish water; — a rose; — a daisy; — 
new laid eggs; — new-mown hay. 

Friendliness —On good terms with; to go hand in hand; 
to leave the latchstring hanging out; to receive 
with open arms; to kill the fatted calf; without 
form, or ceremony; hale fellow well met; old cro- 
nies; pals; partners; chums. 

Friendship.— 3ee Intimacy, Peace, Friendliness. 

Fulness.— Running over; chock full; full up to the 
brim; — wick; full as a tick; — an egg; — a vetch. 

Futility.— Xo cast pearls before swine; a jewel in a 
swine's snout; to have about as much use for one 
as a hog has for a side pocket; to beat the air; 
to lash the waves; to chain the waves; to bay the 
moon; as well be singing Psalms to a dead horse; 
— shooting at the sun; — whistling jigs to a mile- 
stone; as well try to paint the sunbeams; cash a 
check on the First National Bank of the Moon; 



1 84 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



to kick against the pricks; to chase butterflies; — 
the sunbeams; — moonbeams ; — paint the rays of 
the sun; to stop up the spigot, and let run out at 
the bunghole; penny wise and pound foolish; to 
strain at a gnat and swallow a camel; — a hatchet, 
and swallow a broad-axe;- a fly, and swallow an 
elephant; to go on a sleeveless errand; to quarrel 
with one's bread and butter; to reckon without 
one's host; to go on a wild goose chase; — a fool's 
errand; to play the monkey; to stay the waters of 
the Niagara. 
(See Folly.) 

Gaiety.— Loud; gay as a lark; merry as a grig; playful 
as a kitten; frolicsome as a lamb; lively as a 
cricket; — a Christmas tree; — a big sunflower. 

Gaudiness.— Gaudy as a tulip; — a butterfly; — a peacock. 

Geniality.— See Friendliness. 

Gentleness —Gentle as a lamb; mild as mother's milk; 

gentle as a dove. 
Gluttony.— See Voracity. 

Goodness.— Up to the standard; all wool and a yard 
w T ide; to pass muster; tried seven times by the 
fire; to challenge comparison; to stand the test; 
of the first water; up to the mark; of the right 
measure; the essence of perfection; sound as a 
roach; — a dollar. 

Grace.— With rounded periods; plumpness of sentences; 
purity of diction; a flow of words; a flow of reason 
and a feast of soul; to point a moral, or adorn a 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



185 



tale; with the grace of Macaulay, or the elo- 
quence of Webster; eloquent as Demosthenes. 

Greatness.— See Excellence; Goodness. 

Greenness.— Green as grass; — a gourd; — peas. 

Grief.— To bow one's soul to the earth; to break one's 
heart; in a melting mood; to grieve one to death; 
to make tears stand in one's eyes; crest-fallen. 
(See Sorrow. ) 

Guilt.— The galled horse flinches; where the shoe 
pinches; there's the rub; when a spaniel yelps, 
you may know he has been hit; in it; got one's 
foot in it; in the toils; in the mud, or mire. 

Habit.— In the same old rut; bred in the bone; to run in 
a groove; to sing the same old song; — tune; to 
move with the current; to run in the blood; to 
follow the crowd; "Ephraim is bound to his 
idols." 

Hanging. — To stretch, or pull hemp; to stretch a rope; 
to feel the end of a rope. 

Happiness.— To eat one's white bread; in high feather; 
on a bed of roses; in the lap of luxury; the sun- 
shine of the mind; to drive dull care away; a flow 
of spirits; happy as the days are long; — a king; — 
a big sunflower; — a chicken at a dough pile; — a 
pig in clover; a duck in a mill-pond; — a bee in a 
bud ; as pleased as Punch; happy as the days are 
long; happy as can be. 
(See Success.) 



i86 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Hardness.— Hard as a rock;— a flint; — a brick;— iron; — 
adamant; — an armor plate; — a nail; — a deal board; 
— diamond; stiff as a board; — a poker; — a rail. 

Haste.— See Hurry. 

Heat.— Sizzing hot; piping hot; hot as blazes; — love in 
August; — fire ; — a furnace ; — love ; — hades ; — the 
infernal regions; — pepper; warm as a toast; — 
wool. 

Health.-See Life. 

Heaviness.— See Weight. 

Height.— Tall as a Maypole; — a poplar; — a steeple; — the 
Washington monument ; — the Eiffel tower ; — a 
pine; — a lamp post; a Eucalyptus; — a flag-pole. 

Hindrance.— See Suppression. 

Hint— To sniff the battle from afar; the handwriting 
on the wall; coming events casting their shadows 
before them; to sound the tocsin; — the alarm; to 
hoist the yellow flag; — the red flag; to give one a 
tip; an inkling. 

Homeliness.— Having a forbidding, or repelling counte- 
nance; ugly as sin; — a mud fence; — a toad; — a 
pug dog; — a broken plate; — cracked ice in June ; 
— scrambled eggs; — a dead monkey; — homemade 
sin; — the devil; — a baboon; — a scarecrow; hard- 
looking; awkward; Aesop; a harridan; baboon; 
scarecrow. 

Hope— Having a clear sky; the dawn of day; the 
placid waters of hope; to cling to the last 
spar; having a smooth sea; the wish being 
/ father to the thought; "hope ever on a 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



I8 7 



radiant wing;" "hope whispered a flattering 
tale." 

Horse.— Charger; steed; nag; courser; Pegasus; Bu- 
cephalus; January; Rozinante. 

Hostility.— Hostile as an Indian; warlike as a Zulu. 

Humidity.— Wet as water; — a drowned rat; — a rag; — a 
drenched hen. 

Humiliation.— Humble as a dog;-lamb; — kitten; — gosling. 
(See Dejection.) 

Humorist.— Professional funnyman; side-cracker; spark; 
witsnapper; Joe Miller. 

Hunger.— Hungry as a hunter; a wolf; — a fisherman; — 
a church mouse; — a hawk; — a horse; — a buzzard; 
— a bear. 

Hurry. — To seize time by the forelock; to make the 
dust fly; to go it, boots; to come up to the scratch ; 
to call time on one; to stampede; no sooner said 
than done; to go it with a vengeance; hit it split 
it; hurry-skurry. 

Idleness.— To eat the bread of idleness; to sleep like a 
log; to burn day-light; to rest upon one's oars; 
to fold one's arms; to press brick; to work for 
Street and Walker; to let well enough alone; to 
bide one's tune; to take it easy; in the land of 
Nod; in the arms of Morpheus; Fabian policy; 
castle of indolence. 

Ignorance.— To see through a glass darkly; to play at 
cross purposes; in the dark; at sea; at his wit's 
end; at a loss to know; God only knows; ask 
some one else; ask of the winds; to ask one too 



i88 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



soon; to be caught tripping; not tQ know a hawk 
from a handsaw; — an X from a cross-road; — B from 
buttermilk; — chalk from cheese; as green as grass; 
— a gourd; dull as a froe; — a beetle; — lead; — 
a butter knife. 
Illegality. See Unlawfulness. 

IH-nature.— Cross as a setting hen; — an old maid; — a cat; 
- two sticks; — a bear; — the tongs; — an X; — a dog; 
surly as a bear. 
Imagination.— See Fancy. 
Imbibe.— See Drink. 

Impossibility.— To ride to heaven on a sunbeam; to make 
a silk purse out of sow's ear; to expect blood out 
of a turnip; — figs from thorns; — grapes from 
thistles; pears from elms; to go to a goat's house 
for wool; to turn water to wine; to transplant a 
mountain into the sea; a case of sour grapes. 

Impracticability.— See Impossibility. 

Impromptu.— With unwashed hands; on the spur of the 

moment. 
Inaction.— See Idleness. 
Indecision.— See Delay. 

Inducement.— To lead by the nose; to gild the pill; to 
pave the way; to grease the palm; to pat on the 
back; to put a sop into the pan; to bait the hook; 
to bait with a silver hook; to look at the silver 
side of a thing. 

Inelegance.— See Ungracefulness. 

Infallibility.— See Truthfulness. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Innocence— Innocent as a lamb; — a dried apple; — a 
pared peach; — a babe; — a new born babe; — an 
unborn babe; — an angel, 

Inquiry.— See Examination. 

Insanity.— Addle-brained; cracked; half-witted; flighty; 
light in the upper story; something wrong in the 
upper story; giddy as a goose; crazy as a bed bug; 
mad as a March hare. 
(See Madness, Crankiness.) 

Insipidity.— See Weakness. 

Intelligence.— To catch on; to make one's self master of; 

the scales having fallen from the eyes; to be up 

in one's studies; to know the ropes; to have at 

the fingers' ends; a man of books; — letters; wise as 

a serpent; — an owl; sharp as a steel trap; — a 

razor; — razor soup; posted. 
Intimacy.— To stand in with; to stand together; to hold 

out the right hand of fellowship; to go arm in 

arm; — hand in hand; to lock arms; to join hands; 

to be in one's good graces; hale fellow well met; 

as thick as two in a pod; Damon and Pythias; 

Pylades and Orestes; Nisus and Euryalus; Castor 

and Pollux; the man Friday. 
Irritability— The blood boiling in one's veins; in a stew; 

to lash into fury; "in a fine frenzy rolling;" to 

cut to the quick; to be all out of patience; — sorts; 

to fly off the handle; in a pickle; on the warpath; 

to fly off at a tangent. 
Justice.— To give the devil his due; put the saddle on 

the right horse; the right sow by the ear; to put 



I90 THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 

the shoe on the right foot; to call a spade a spade; 
without regard to persons; to hit the mark; a 
pound for a pound; a penny for a penny; a fair 
field and no favor; the scales of justice; even- 
handed justice. 

Keenness.— Keen as a brier; — a woman's tongue; sharp 
as a razor; — a steel trap; — a two-edged sword; — 
a needle; — vinegar. 

Killing.-See Death. 

Knowledge.— See Intelligence. 

Lateness.— To pray after the devil comes; to lock the 
stable door after the horse is stolen; to think of 
mending the roof after the rain begins to fall; to 
pardon after the execution; to let slip one's fin- 
gers; after meat, mustard; after death, the physi- 
cian; at the eleventh hour; to drag one's slow 
length along. 

Lavishness.— See Extravagance. 

Lead.— To take the initiative; to take precedence; to 
steal a march on; to lead the way; to go in the 
van; to ride with the band wagon; to be the first 
in the field. 

Levity.— Purple patchwork; poppycock; to touch with 
the finger ends; light as a feather; — down; — 
smoke ; — air ; — hydrogen ; — thistle-down . 
(See Folly, Nonsense.) 
Liberty.— Free as air; — the birds of the air; — the fowls of 
the air. 
(See Freedom.) 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Life.-To keep soul and body together; to eke out one's 
existence; to sail o'er this sea of life; to keep on 
foot; to keep kicking; the right side up with care; 
fat on both sides; in high feather; to laugh at the 
doctor; to shut the door on the doctor's nose; in 
good case; as sound as a bell; — a dollar; — a roach; 
as bright as a daisy; as fresh as a rose; as fat as a 
buck. 
(See Birth.) 

Likeness.— Chip of the old block; ridiculously alike; of 
the same mould; the very image of; as like as 
twins; — two blackeyed peas. 

Liveliness.— See Gaiety. 

Loquacity.— As glib as a barber; — an elevator man; — a 
huckster. 
(See Talkativeness. ) 

Love.— To set one's affections upon; to become enam- 
ored of; to become smitten with; to get stuck 
on; to be sweet on; — mashed on; to be carried 
away with; to take a fancy to; to set one's cap 
for; to cast a sheep's eye at; to become perfectly 
captivated with; nearest to one's heart. 

Luck.— See Success. 

Madness.— Giddy as a goose; mad as a March hare; — 
as Tucker was when his father died; — Dickens. 

Magnitude.— The lion's share; a land office business; a 
Chicago court house; of Falstaffian proportions; 
as big as an elephant; — the side of a house; — all 
out of doors; — a mountain; Antaeus; Cyclops; 
Goliath; a perfect giant; a monster; an elephant; 



192 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



a mastodon; a Colossus; a spanker; a whopper; 
Gulliver among Iyiliputians; Triton among min- 
nows. 

Management.— See Economy. 
Manifestation.— See Evidence. 
Marriage.— See Wedlock. 

Meanness.— To show the cloven foot; to betray one's 
long ears. 
(See Vice.) 
Mildness.— See Gentleness. 

Miiuteness.— To lie on the point of a knife; — a needle; 
in a nutshell; a drop in the bucket; a drop in the 
ocean; a mere taste, or smell; a dot; a point; a 
speck; drop; smack; thimbleful; small as a pea; 
— a chigger; — the eye of a needle. 

Misery.— As miserable as a mouse in a pitch barrel; — a 
worm in an ant bed. 

MiiforJune.— Under one's darkest star; the frowns of 
fortune; eating black bread; to lose the combina- 
tion; under an evil star; an iron day; an evil age. 

Mistake.— To miss the mark; to shoot wide of the mark; 
a pig for a puppy; to bark up the wrong tree; to 
bay the moon; to go on a fool's errand; — a wild 
goose chase; a shadow for a substance; to reckon 
without one's host. 
(See Error.) 

Money.— The purse; spondulix; sinews of war; the 
where- with-al; the cash; the stuff; the dust; a 
red cent; pile; nickel; bank account; a wheel; 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



193 



the almighty dollar; the Archimedian lever; the 
needful; the 11 power-behind-the-throne." 

Music— As musical as Apollo's lute. 

Mutability.— To change with the moon; — the wind; — the 
thermometer; to turn over a new leaf; as change- 
able as the wind; — a shadow; — a woman; — a 
chameleon ; — spring weather ; — a weather-cock ; — 
the moon; — March weather; — an April wind. 

Nakedness.— In nature's buff; having on one's birth-day 
suit; stark naked; bare as the hand; bald as a 
coot; naked as a bird; — as when came in the 
world. 

Necessity.— Hobson's choice; the die being cast; to be 
pushed to the wall; a blind bargain; shoot, or 
give up the gun; take the medicine, or leave the 
hospital; a stern necessity; a burning necessity. 

Neglect.— See Slight. 

Newness.— See Freshness. 

Noise. — To raise a row; to make Rome howl; to paint 
the town red; to raise Cain. 

Nonsense — Poppy-cock ; a fish tale; a mare's nest; a 
ghost story; bosh; balderdash; fiddle sticks; 
tweedledum and tweedledee; fiddlededee; flum- 
mery; prunella; neither rhyme nor reason; a 
cock-and-bull story; a wild goose chase; much 
cry and little wool; to quarrel about goat's wool; 
much ado about nothing; a mountain out of a 
mole hill; an elephant out of a fly; a log out of 
straw; to catch at straws; too thin; as light as 



i 9 4 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



air; rag tag; Aim flam; patch works purple patch 
work. 

(See Futility, Fallacy.) 
Nudity.— See Nakedness. 

Oath.— To swear by bell, book, and candle; to plight 
one's word; to stake, or pledge one's honor; to 
call upon heaven to witness; under one's hand 
and seal; my word for it. 

Obedience.— To eat humble pie; to throw upon one's 
hands; to strike one's colors; to beat a retreat; to 
cry quarter; to truckle, or knuckle to; to knuckle 
under. 
(See Submission.) 

Obstinacy.— See Stubborness. 

Old Age.— The winter of life; the vale of years; past the 
meridian; one foot in the grave, and the other 
just out; marked with the crow's foot; on his last 
legs; no chicken. 
(See Age.) 

Opinion.— To pin one's faith to; to swallow down; to 
drink in; I assure you; I doubt not. 

Opportunity.— A stitch in time; a stitch in time saves 
nine; to seize time by the forelock; to take ad- 
vantage of; to make hay while the sun shines; 
to stem the tide; to beard the lion in his den; a 
golden opportunity; — hour; — moment; the moun- 
tain top of opportunity. 

Opposition.— As opposite as fire and water; — white and 
black; — light and darkness; — day and night; — 
the poles; as different as chalk is from cheese. 



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195 



Ordinary. -A mud man; a straw man; clodpole; clod- 
hopper; the rabble; riff-raff; loutish; ragtag and 
bobtail; a cockney; a gaffer; a loon; a tyke; a 
bogtrotter; a looney; a numbskull; a wind bag; 
an empty noodle; a stop-gag; small fry; great out- 
side nothing; small potatoes, and few in a hill. 

Ostentation.— See Show. 

Overnicety.— See Particularity. 

Ownership.— within one's own dominion; to hold in the 
palms of one's hands; in one's own grasp; at 
one's command, or disposal; a bird in the hand; 
to keep task over; being lord of all you survey, 
the right there is none to dispute. 

Pacification.— See Quietude. 

Paleness.— Pale as death; — a corpse; — ashes; — a ghost; — 

a witch; white as a sheet. 
Parsimony.— See Stinginess. 

Particularity.— To handle with gloves on; to turn up the 
nose at; to see spots on the sun; to eat peas with 
a fork; to mince the matter. 

Patience. — As patient as Job; — a dead injun; — a sign 
post. 

Peace.— To bury the hatchet; — the tomahawk; to show 
the white feather; to hoist the white flag; to 
throw up one's hands; to shake hands across the 
bloody chasm; to heal the breach; to shake hands; 
to smoke the pipe of peace; to sheathe the sword; 
to establish a truce; to fall on one's shoulder; to 
raise the sieze; to kiss and make up; to close the 



196 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



temple of Janus; to close the bloody chasm; to 

smoke the calumet of peace. 
Pennllessness.— To lose one's purse; not having a red 

cent; soaked; financially stranded; to balance one's 

bank account; as poor as terrapin; the last button 

on Gabe's coat. 
(See Poverty.) 
Perfection.— See Goodness. 
Permanence.— See Durability. 
Perpendicularity.— See Vertically. 
Persistence.— See Adhesiveness. 
Persuasion.— See Inducement. 
Philosophy. See Reason. 
Plainness.— See Clearness. 
Pleasure.— See Happiness. 

Plenitude.— Having two irons in the fire; — two strings to 
one's bow; — two hooks to one line; flowing with 
milk and honey; enough and to spare; full as a 
tick; — an egg; — a vetch; as numerous as the sands 
of the sea; thick as hops; — hair on a dog's back; 
— leaves on the trees; — hail; plenty as blackber- 
ries; — stars in the firmament. 

Plumpness.— See Fatness. 

Plurallty.-See Plenitude. 

Politeness.— Polite as a Chesterfield; — a French dancing 
master; — a Persian; — a basket of chips. 

Possession.— To keep the wolf from the door; to turn a 
point; to make a riffle; to scrape up; to raise the 



THE composer's friend. 



197 



wind; to feather the nest; to have a finger in the 
pie; to hold the fort. 
(See Ownership.) 

Poverty.— In want; — hard luck; the wolf being at the 
door; can't keep soul and body together; to live 
from hand to mouth; to be driven by adverse 
winds; the frowns of fortune; the storms of 
adversity; out at the elbows; — the heels; going to 
rack; hard up; strapped; seedy; as poor as Job's 
turkey; — a church mouse; — a rat; — a terrapin; — a 
snake; thin as a coyote; — a lath; — a rake. 
(See Pennilessness.) 

Power.— To have the law on one's side; to set the pace; 
to "ride the whirlwind, and direct the storm;" 
to rule the roost; to have under one's thumb; to 
wear the breeches; to lead by the nose; to be lord, 
horse, and cock of the walk. 

Precedence.— See Priority. 

Precision.— To touch with a needle; to hit the bull's 
eye. 

Preparation.— To go heeled; to lay the first stone; to 
smooth the path; to pave the way; to charge the 
batteries; to clear the deck; to be in the saddle; 
to sow the seed; to bridge the way; in full har- 
ness. 

Prettiness.— See Beauty. 
Pride.— See Show. 

Priority.— To take the initiative; — the lead; to steal a 



the composer's friknd. 



march on; to have the go on one; first come, first 
served; the early bird catches the worm. 
(See Lead.) 

Probity.— Good as gold; good as one's word; true as 
steel. 

Prodigality.— Cent- wisdom and dollar-folly; penny-wise 
and pound-foolish; to stop up the spigot, and let 
out at the bunghole. 

Promise— See Oath. 

Property.— Bank account; dominion; duds; alls; belong- 
ings; luggage; trappings; domain; bag and bag- 
gage; to one's credit, or account; what a man 
will fight for. 

Proof.— To stand the test; to hold water; to speak vol- 
umes; to speak for itself; the proof of the pudding 
is the eating thereof; a tale which he who runs 
may read; and thereby hangs a tale. 

Prosperity.— See Success. 

Provision.— See Preparation. 

Publicity.— To "whisper it in Gath, and publish it in 
the streets of Askalon; " on every tongue; to 
publish far and near; to give to the winds and 
the waves. 

Punishment.— To apply hickory oil; — birch oil; to tan 
one's hide; to lace one's jacket; to give a black 
eye; to make an example of one; to serve one 
right; to rake, or draw over the coals; to set one 
afire; to build a fire behind; to get after one with 
a sharp stick. 



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199 



Purity.— Pure as gold ; — rainwater ; — sunshine ; — gold 
tried seven times by the fire; — snow. 

Quickness.— On the spur of the moment; no sooner said 
than done; in an instant; before one can say, 
"Jack Robinson;" in the twinkling of an eye; 
as quick as a flash; — a dart; — a doe; — thought; — 
lightning; — a shot; swift as an arrow; — a hum- 
ming bird; — a deer; — a bullet; — a hare; — time; — 
an entelope; fleet as a grey-hound; quick as a 
wink; to give a lick and a promise; to steal a 
march upon; to be up with the lark; to take time 
by the forelock; the early bird catches the worm; 
in military time; on schedule time; on the stroke 
of the clock. 

Quietude.— To pour oil on the troubled waters; — the 
waves; to hoist the white flag; to bury the 
hatchet; to pour balm into; the flag of truce; to 
play a lone hand; to hermitize one's self; to send 
to Coventry; to retire from the the world, — the 
field; to shut the door upon; to lead a quiet life; 
in seclusion; to out-crusoe Crusoe; calm as a sum- 
mer sea; quiet as a graveyard; still as a mouse; 
gentle as a lamb; mild as mother's milk; still as a 
post ; — a statue; — a monument ; — death ; — the 
tomb; mute as a fish; — an oyster; — a clam. 

Reason.— To try conclusions; to chop logic; to turn on 
the calcium light; as philosophical as Plato. 

Recklessness.— To go it boots; to go it with both eyes 
shut; to have too many eggs in the basket; to buy 
a pig in a poke; to go further and fare worse; on 



200 



the composer's friend. 



a fool's errand; without ballast; helter-skelter; 
hurry-skurry. 

Redness.— As red as a peony; — arose; — a turkey's snout; 
— a toper's nose; — fire; — blood; — scarlet; — a lob- 
ster; — a turkey cock; — a setting sun. 

Redundance.— See Superfluity. 

Refusal.— To hang fire; to turn a deaf ear to; to put a 
quietus upon; to put a stop to; to throw over- 
board; to lay on the shelf. 

Refuse.— Trash; offscourings; shavings; hulls; leavings; 
heel tap; candle-ends. 

Rejection.— See Expulsion, Refusal. 

Relinquishment.— See Abandonment. 

Remainder.-See Refuse. 

Remoteness.— See Distance. 

Repentance.— To turn over a new leaf; to go down on 

one's marrow-bones; a sadder and a wiser man; 

on the stool of repentance; — the cutty stool. 
Repetition.— The same old tale; — story; — song; to harp 

on the same old string; to sing the same old song; 

to rehash. 
Reputation.— See Name. 
Resolution.— See Courage. 
Rest.— See Stop. 
Restraint.- See Subjection. 

Retaliation.— A Roland for an Oliver; steel for his metal; 
tit for tat; to catch a Tartar; measure for measure; 
diamond cut diamond; butter for fat; to give as 
good as one sends; to meet one half way. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



20 1 



Revenge— To have a crow to pick with; to have a rod in 
pickle for; to have an account to settle; to breathe 
vengeance upon; to get even with; to payback in 
one's own coin ; to have one's satisfaction; 
revengeful as an Indian. 

Reward.— To make it good with one; to make all right; 
to satisfy; to put a feather in one's cap; — a star 
in one's crown; to remember one. 

Riches.— A well-lined purse; full of stamps; a full purse; 
a heavy bank account; a mint of money; to roll 
in riches; to wallow in wealth; made of money; a 
veritable Vanderbilt; rich as a Jew; — Croesus; — 
cream; — Rothschild; — " twenty seas, as if all their 
sands were pearls, the water nectar, and the rocks 
pure gold. ' ' 

Right.— See Justice. 

Risk.— See Recklessness. 

Rotundity.— Round as an apple; — a ball; — a marble. 
Roughness— Rough as a barbed fence; — a porcupine's 

back; — a bear; — a nutmeg grater; — a winter sea; 

— a March sea; uncouth as a savage; " like quills 

upon the fretful porcupine." 
Rule.— See Subjection. 

Run.— To beat a hasty retreat; to make the dust fly; to 
get up in the dust; to hit with heel dust; to raise 
heel dust; to take French leave; to give leg bail; 
to hop the twig; to skip the town; to split the 
wind; to get up and get; the devil take the hind- 
most; to run like a quarter horse; — a deer; — an 
antelope; — a greyhound; — a scared hare. 



202 the; composer's friend. 

Rush.— To go it like wild fire; — like fighting fire; — like 
a Turk; — like hammer and tongs. 

Sadness.— At half mast; down in the mouth; in sack- 
cloth and ashes; in crepe; to take to heart; to 
wear a long face; to look Pharisaical; — blue; to 
hang down the head; to be in the suds; crest- 
fallen; as sanctified as a sheep; grave as a judge; 
mute as a mouse; dull as a beetle; — ditch-water; 
melancholy as a gibcat. 

Safety.— i n the swim; — saddle; on top; out of harm's 
way; out of the woods; under the cover of one's 
wing; on sure ground; under lock and key; be- 
yond bow-shot; to weather the storm. 

Sale.— To put on the auction block; to bring under the 
hammer; to hang out the red flag. 

Salt.— Salty as brine; — a mackerel; — a herring; — L,ot's 
wife. 

Scarcity.— " in single spies;" all in a crowd by one's 
self; " standing desolate and alone; " a mere pit- 
tance; a beggarly amount; the widow's mite; a 
gnat's allowance; at low water-mark; as scarce 
as hen teeth; — hog horns. 

Secrecy.- On the quiet; between you and me; to seal 
the lips; to keep to one's self; to keep one's own 
counsel; not to breathe a word or a syllable about; 
by a side wind; " thereby hangs a tale; " " star- 
chamber proceedings; " sub rosa. 

SelMmporiance.— Big I and little you; to toot one's own 
horn; to ring one's own bell: to be one's own 
trumpeter; to blow one's own horn; to cut a wide 



the composer's friend. 



203 



swath; wise in one's own conceit; to fish for com- 
pliments; to put one's self forward; not to think 
small beer of one's self; to have an overweening 
opinion of one's self; how we apples swim! 
bumptious; consequentious; vain as a peacock. 

Self-interest.— To know on which side one's bread is but- 
tered; to look out for number one; to put up 
one's fences; "charity begins at home;" self- 
interest the first law of nature; to gain some pri- 
vate end; an axe to grind; the dog in the man- 
ger; to have an eye to the main chance. 

Sensitiveness.— To be very touchous; to prick one to the 
heart; thin-skinned; " to die of a rose in aromatic 
pain; " would blush at picture; — a statue; would 
cut a pea into. 

Service.— To hang on the coat-tail of; to be tied to one's 
apron-string; one's nose being to the grind-stone; 
to dance attendance on; to pin one's self to, or 
upon; to pay court to; to hold with the hare and 
run with the hounds; to bring into play; to pull 
the wires; to bring to bear; to press or enlist in 
the service; to make the most or best of; to turn 
to account; to make every edge cut that can; to 
put one's best foot forward. 

Show— With flourish of trumpets; on one's high horses; 
to air one's self; on stilts; with a coach-and-six; 
with flying colors; to put on airs; Lucifer; Phar- 
isaical; gay as a butterfly; gaudy as a tulip; 
proud as a peacock; — a prince; gay as a big sun- 
flower. 



204 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Sickness.— Out of sorts; under the weather; on the sick 
list; laid up for repairs; out of joint; in a bad 
way. 

Silence.— To subside like a soap bubble; to shut up like 
a clam; — an oyster; to saw wood and say nothing; 
to hold one's peace; to seal, or close one's lips; to 
hold one's tongue; with bated breath; with fingers 
on the lips; still as death; silent as a clam; — the 
tomb; — a sign post; dumb as an oyster; — a statue; 
mute as a mouse; — a fish; silent as death. 

Similarity.— See likeness. 

Sin.— To show the cloven foot; to sow one's wild oats; 
to hug a sin. 
(See Wickedness.) 

Sinner.— A rapscallion; a scullion; a hell-cat; a hell- 
hound; a viper; the devil himself; the devil incar- 
nate. 

Size.— See Magnitude. 
Skill.— See Acumen. 
Slenderness.— See Thinness. 
Slickness.— See Smoothness. 

Slight.— To give the go-by; to leave out in the cold; 
— the wet; in the soup; at the mercy of the 
winds and waves; to wink at; to take no account 
of; to set at naught; to give the cold shoulder; 
to feed with a long spoon. 

Slowness.— Slow as a snail; — a funeral; snail-like; at a 
funeral pace; to draw one's slow length along. 
(See Tardiness. ) 

Slyness.— See Cunning. 



the; composer's friend. 



205 



Smoothness.— To dress off; to take off the feather- edge; 
to tone down the asperities; smooth as isin-glass; 
— velvet ; — glass ; — slick as sealskin; — oil ; — an 
eel ; — a whistle ; — grease; — soap; — greased light- 
ning; slippery as ice. 

Softness —Soft as mush ; — soap ; — cotton ; — down ; — 
dough ; — butter ; — silk ; as yielding as wax ; — 
dough. 

Source.— To be at the bottom of; the fine, Italian hand; 

to have a finger in the pie; the ruling spirit; — 

power; the hand at the crank; behind the scenes; 

the power behind the throne; the leading spirit; 

mascot. 
Sorrow.— See Grief, Sadness. 

Soundness. — Sound as a dollar; — a roach; solid as a rock. 
Sourness.— See Acidity. 
Space.— See Extent. 

Speed. — The devil take the hindmost; in seven league 
boots; in double-quick time; on eagles' wings; 
on wings of the wind; by forced marches; to 
crowd sail; to go off like a shot; swift as an 
arrow; — a shot; — a doe; — time; — a bullet; — a 
hare; — an antelope; fleet as a greyhound; quick 
as thought; — a dart; — a shot; — lightning; fleeting 
as a bubble; of mushroom growth. 

Splendor.— See Fineness. 

Stealing.— See Theft. 

Stiffness.— Stiff as a board; — a stick; — a rail; — a bone; - 
a poker; — as buckram. 
(See Hardness.) 



205 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Stillness.— See Silence. 

Stinginess.— To skin a flint;— a flea for his hide and tal- 
low; to have an itching palm; close-fisted; hide- 
bound; so stingy that he looked over his specta- 
cles in order to keep from wearing them out; — 
that he used a wart on the back of his neck for a 
collar button. 

Stop.— To hang fire; to call a halt; to rest on one's 
oars; to hang up; to knock off; to cast out an- 
chor; to draw in sail; to ground arms. 

Straight.— Straight as a bean-pole; — an arrow; — a Nor- 
wegian pine. 

Strength.— Deep-rooted; "rock-ribbed, and ancient as 
the sun;" a tower of strength; founded on a rock; 
like a giant refreshed; " like a plumed knight;" 
"our withers are unwrung;" strong as Samp- 
son; — a lion; — brandy; — a horse; — the foundations 
of the earth; — the rock of ages; — a Chinese wall. 

Stubbornness.— Ephraim is bound to his idols; wedded to 
an opinion; obstinate as a mule; stubborn — . 
(See Obstinacy.) 

Subjection.— In limbo; in l,ob's pound; tied up; to put in 
a straight jacket; to hold in check; under the lash; 
to wear the collar; at beck and call of; under one's 
thumb; tied to one's apron string; to lead by the 
nose; under one's sway. 
(See Rule, Defeat.) 

Submission.— To dance attendance on; to eat humble pie; 
to kiss the rod; to bite the dust; to throw up the 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



207 



sponge; to dance to one's music; to play second 
fiddle. 
(See Obedience. ) 

S access —Under one's lucky star; to eat one's white 
bread; one's star being in the ascendant; born 
with a silver spoon in the mouth; to have a run; 
smooth sailing; a smooth course; a lucky dog; the 
spoilt child of fortune; the smiles of fortune; in 
the swim; to make both ends meet; to strike oil; 
to sail before the wind; to move on swimmingly; 
to win one's way; — spurs; — the blue ribbon; to 
weather a point; to swim with the tide; to come 
out with flying colors; to make a ten strike; to 
win the palm; to gain the day;yz« de siecle. 

Superfluity.— To carry coals to Newcastle; to sing Psalms 
to a dead horse; to put butter upon bacon; having 
two irons in the fire; to bay the moon; like wash- 
ing oil with water ; putting the third wheel to a 
bicycle. 

Suppression.— To take the wind out of one's sails; to 
knock the pegs (or props) from under one; to 
throw a damper over one; to clip one's wings; to 
tie one's hands; to nip in the bud; to put a quietus 
on one. 
(See Defeat ) 

Surrender.— To throw up the sponge; to strike one's 
colors; to haul down the flag; to hoist the white 
flag; like the French monarch who marched his 
army up the hill, and then marched down again; 
to ground arms. 
(See Defeat.) 



208 THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 

Suspicion— To take with a grain of saltf to have one's 
own opinion of; a fish tale; " beware of gift-bear- 
ing Greeks;" to smell a rat; something rotten in 
Denmark; something dead up the creek (or 
branch;) a bug under the chip; to float in a sea of 
doubts; to take with grains of allowance; a mys- 
tery in the air; an eel under the rock. 

Sweetness. - Sweeter than saccharine; sweet as sugar; — 
a nut; — a pink; — a peach; — honey; as sweet as 
honey or the honey comb. — ( The Bible). As sweet 
as remembered kisses after death. — Tennyson. 

Swiftness.— See Quickness. 

System.— As regular as a clock; — clock-work; — the sea- 
sons; true as steel; — the stars to their courses; — 
the sun to its orbit; — the needle to the pole; sure 
as death; — taxes; on schedule. 

Talkativeness.— To turn one's tongue loose; to unlimber 
the tongue; to have one's say; by word of 
mouth; to unbridle the tongue; to jaw at; to wag 
the tongue; the gift of gab; to talk much with 
the mouth; jaw-tackle; chin music; to talk the 
legs off an iron pot; to talk one to death; to 
talk one's tongue out of place; to talk one's self 
out of breath; to spin a long yarn; to be all ton- 
gue; — mouth; tongue hung in the middle and 
loose at both ends; a chatter-box; a mocking bird; 
a gabbler. 
(See Loquacity.) 

Tardiness— At a snail's pace; — funeral pace; to hang 
fire; " to drag its slow length along; " to apply 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 209 



the brake; with torn sails; come day, go day, God 
send Sunday; with clipped wings; snail-like; slow 
as a snail. 
(See Slowness.) 

Teaching.— " To teach the young idea how to shoot; " 
to cram; to beat into the head; to sharpen the 
wits; ye pedagogue; the schoolmaster abroad. 

Tenderness.— Tender as a chicken; — a squab; — a spring 
lamb; the first shoots of spring. 

Theft.— To stick to the fingers; to rob Peter to pay 
Paul; to go shop lifting; to live by one's wits; to 
make off with; to appropriate to one's own use; 
to nab; — gut; — ransack ; — forage ; — pillage ; to 
shove the queer; to flim-flam; light-handed; 
shop-lifting; piracy; confiscation; for gaging; 
kleptomania. 

Thickness.— Thick as hops; — one's heel; — hair on a dog's 

back; — the leaves on a tree; — the sands of the sea. 
Thinness. — As thin as a wafer; — water; — air; slender as 

a bean pole; — a thread; lank as a greyhound; 

lean as a rake; — a coyote; thin as a match; — lath; 

— a rail; — a whipping- post; — paper; — a shad; — a 

shadow. 

Timidity.— To fight shy of; to show the white feather; a 

perfect Bob Acres; Dutch-courage; pigeon-hearted; 

chicken-hearted; as timid as a lamb; — a chicken; 

— a gosling; — a pigeon; — a deer. 
Toughness.— Tough as tripe; — whit leather; — a pine knot; 

— leather; a boiled owl; — a setting hen. 



2IO 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Triviality.— To strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel; — 
a hatchet, and swallow a broad-axe; to split hairs; 
to break a butterfly upon a wheel; goat's wool. 
(See Nonsense.) 

Trouble— To put on the rack; to impale on the horns of 
a dilemma; to bring to tow; — task; — book; — 
account; to prod one; to stick pins in one. 

Truth.— The plain, honest, solid, naked, sober truth; a 
stubborn, frozen fact; not a dream, or fancy; no 
fairy tale; no fish tale; neither more nor less; in 
sober earnest; as truthful as Washington; infalli- 
ble as the Pope; as true as the needle to the pole; 
— holy writ; — gospel. 

Tyranny.— See Despotism. 

Uglines3.— Ugly as sin; — a mud fence; — a dead monkey; 

— cracked ice in June; — a toad; — a pug; — a broken 

plate; — homemade sin; — a scarecrow; — the devil; 

— a baboon; face looked like a broken plate; — 

a scrambled egg. 
(See Homeliness.) 
Unchangeableness.— Unchangeable as the sun; a leopard's 

spots; — an Ethiopian's skin; — the eternal laws; 

grounded; rockribbed; true as the stars to their 

courses; — the sun to its orbit. 
Uidentaiding.— i n the secret; to see one's hand; to see 

the under sides of the cards. 
Uneasluess.— See Discomfort. 

Unbappiness.— Under one's evil star; under a dark cloud; 
on pins; to be down in the mouth; to look blue; 
to have the blues; to eat one's black bread. 



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211 



Unimportance —See Nonsense, Trivialty. 

Ungraceful ocss.— To make one blush; to make one hang 
or hide the head in shame; words that are offen- 
sive to ears polite; words that crack the jaw. 

Unlawfulness.— To set the law at naught; — defiance; to 
override the law; to snap the finger at the judge; 
to defy the law; to drive a-coach-and-six 
through a statute; the law being a dead letter; 
club — ; mob — ; lynch — ; L,ydford law. 

Unruliness.— Unruly as the tongue; — an angry woman. 

Unseasonableness.— See Lateness. 

Untimeliness.— See Lateness. 

Use.— See Service. 

Uselessness.— Chasing shadows; — butterflies; — baying 
the moon. 
(See Extravagance, Superfluity.) 
Vanity.— See Self-importance. 
Verdance.— See Greenness. 

Vertictlity.— Vertical as a plumb line; — a Norwegian 
pine. 

Vice.— See Meanness. 

Vigilance.— See Expectation, Watchfulness. 
Vigor.-See Energy. 
Violence.— See Fierceness. 

Virtue.— virtuous as a maid; — a nun; chaste as Caesar's 

wife; — an unborn babe. 
Vlsibility.-See Clearness. 

Voracity.— Voracious as a hog; — a wolf; — a dog; — a pig; 
a perfect glutton; to eat out of house and home; 
to lick the platter. 



212 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Want.— See Poverty. 
Warfare.— See Battle; 
Warmth.— See Heat. 
Warning— See Hint. 
Waste.— See Extravance. 

Watchfulness.— To be on one's P's and Q's; to keep the 
eye open; — skinned; to keep a sharp lookout; to 
keep the Argus eye on one; — the weather eye — ; 
watchful as a hawk; — an owl; — an eagle; — a wild 
duck; — a goose. 

Weakness.— To take the wind out of one's sails; to crop 
one's wings; to break one's legs; laid up for re- 
pairs; a rope of sand; weak as water; — mothers' 
milk. 
(See Frailty.) 

Wedlock— To lead to the altar; to join right hands; 

to tie the knot; to embark on the sea of matrimony; 

hymen's torch; to tie the nuptial knot. 
Weight.— Heavy as lead; — mercury; — a millstone. 
Welcome.— Welcome as the morning sun; — a shower in 

August; — the roses in May; — the buttercups and 

daisies; — an oasis in a desert; — a relief boat to a 

wrecked schooner. 
Wetness.— See Humidity. 

Whiteness.— White as snow; — ivory; — abalaster; — a 
sheet; — silver; — a lily; — the driven snow; as 
white as heaven. — Shakespeare. 

Wickedness.— The devil's own; as wicked as Cain; — the 
devil. 



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213 



Width.— wide as the world; — the plains; — a church 
door; — a barn door; boundless as the sea; — the 
ocean; — the universe. 

Wildness.— Wild as a deer; — a March hare; — a buck; — 
a hyena. 

Wisdom.— Up to trap; to know the ropes; having a large 
head on one; having a level head; sharp as a 
steel trap; — razor soup; wise as an owl; — an ant; — 
a serpent;— a bee; — Solon; — Solomon. 

Wit.— To perpetrate or crack a joke; to set the table in 
a roar; a flash of wit; a flood of humor; the life of 
the occasion or party; to drink razor soup. 

Woman.— The better half; man's wise counselor; the 
lost rib; the weaker vessel; the head of the house. 

Wonder.— See Astonishment. 

Worthlessness.— To go abegging; not worth a continental; 
— a hill of beans; riff-raff; poppy-cock. 

Writing.— Having one's name on the blotter; in black 
and white; to shove a fine fist; to commit to pa- 
per; a dash of the pen; to put on paper; to scrib- 
ble. 

Yellowness.— Yellow as a crow's foot; — a quince; — a 

guinea; saffron; — gold; primrose-colored; claude- 

tint; corn-colored. 
Youth.— The morning of life; the Spring-time of life; 

the rising generation; the prime of life; on one's 

first legs. 



214 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



SECTION IV. 
ZhiwQQ IRot Generally Iknowru 

Andersonville Prison, Deaths in— The total number of deaths 
in Andersonville prison was 12,462. The greatest 
number of imprisonments at any one time w T as 
13,009. Number of escapes, 324. 

Andrew Johnson— once president of the United States, 
never attended school a day in his life. He 
learned to read and write after his marriage. 

Antidotes for Poisons. — 

-[-a r\, 1 1 Give common salt in water. 

For Strychnine; -r* c . j 



Nitrate of Sil er L Emetic °f mustard, or 

Tinct. e N° U x Vomica. f n ^ hate of / inc ' aided 
J by warm water. 

For Arsenic- I ^ ve P rom P t emetic of mus- 
-w-A , , J ,. tard and salt, tablespoonful 

Fowler s Solution; > c u c a u 

1T7 , ., . .. ' of each, followed by sweet 

White Prec.p.tate. j ^ of ^ 

j , . ^| Give strong coffee, follow up with 
7t , . ' ! mustard and grease in warm 

orp me, > wa ter to produce vomiting. Keep 

P ' J in motion. 

p ^ 3 ^' \ Prompt emetic, soap or 

cXnate of Soda, j mucilaginous drinks. 

„, , c ~) Pour cold water over head 

Chloroform; / and face, with artificial res- 

Chloral Hydrate, j pi ration ; Galvanic battery. 



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215 



Carbolic Acid. 

Caustic Soda; 
Caustic Potash; 
Volatile Alkali. 



Give flour and water, or glutin- 
ous drinks. 

Drink freely of water with 
lemon juice or vinegar in it. 



Antimonial Wine; 
Tartar Emetic. 



^ Give milk, or white of eggs in 
large quantities. 



Drink warm water to encour- 
age vomiting. If vomiting 
does not cease, give a grain 
of opium in water. 

Bed-bug Poison; 
Blue Vitriol; 
Sugar of I^ead; 
Saltpetre; 
Red Precipitate; 
Sulphate of Zinc. 
(See Hints to Housewives.) 

Arbor Day.— < < Arbor day" is a day for planting orna- 
mental and forest trees in school grounds. It 
was inaugurated in 1883, by the State Superin- 
tendent of public instruction of Indiana. The 
day selected for this work was April 11, 1884. 

Augustan Age, The-" The " Augustan Age " is located in 
the reign of Queen Anne, in which there was 
great progress made in science and literature. 

Bacon's Rebellion.— This was a civil war which broke out 
in Virginia in 1676, caused by ill-feeling which 
had arisen between the people and the party of 
aristocracy. 

Baldness. — Men are more frequently bald than women, 
because their head-dress does not admit of so free 
ventilation as the latter. 



2l6 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Bat, A— A bat sleeps with its head downward, having its 
claws fastened to some object. — It catches a fly 
with its tail. 

Battle of the Spurs, The— The name derisively given to the 
disgraceful and hasty retreat beaten by the 
French cavalry at the sight of the English army, 
led by Henry VIII. 

Bible, The— There is a gap of about 4,000 years between 
the Old and New Testaments. 

* * * 

The Bible contains 66 books, 1,139 chapters, 
31,173 verses, 773>7 6 5 words, and 3,566,480 let- 
ters. The word a?id occurs 46,277 times, the 
word Lord 1,855 times, and the word reverend hut 
once. The shortest verse is the 35th of the nth 
chapter of St. John. 

* * * 

The 2 1 st verse of the 7th chapter of Ezra con- 
tains all the letters of the alphabet except 1 ' J. " 

* * * 

A convention of settlers, held in a barn near 
Quinipiac, Conn., in 1638, after some discussion, 
adopted the Bible as the constitution of the new 
colony. They established a settlement and named 
it New Haven. The Holy Book remained the 
constitution for several years. 
Black Hole of Calcutta.— The garrison prison, eighteen by 
fourteen feet, into which were thrown one hun- 
dred and forty-six English prisoners, including 
one woman. It was a night of intense heat, and 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



217 



the dungeon containing only two windows, their 
suffering from heat and suffocation was so terrible 
that next morning only twenty-three remained 
alive, including the woman. 

Blue Book, The-fhe Blue Book is the official register of 
the names of the officers of the national govern- 
ment. — It is published every two years. 

Bloc Laws of Connecticut, The— These were the early laws of 
that State, One version has it that they are so 
called because they were oppressive; another, 
because they were written on blue paper. 

Bogus.— The word bogus is said to be a corruption of the 
name Borghese, a noted swindler who passed large 
amounts of counterfeit money in the West some 
years ago. 

Boston Massacre, The— The Boston massacre was the kill- 
ing of three persons and the wounding of several 
more in the streets of Boston, March 5, 1770, by 
a small guard of soldiers, who were provoked by 
the jeers and taunts of a crowd of men and boys. 

Boycotting.— This word is derived from that of Captain 
Boycott, who, during the land league agitation of 
Ireland, because of his opposition to the leaguers, 
would not allow to be sold to them labor, milk, 
or bread, or any other commodity. 

Brain, Maximum Weight of— The maximum weight of the 
brain of man is four pounds, of the elephant, ten 
pounds. 



218 the composer's friend. 

Bridge of Sighs, The— The " Bridge of Sighs " in Venice is 
so-called because it is said that the prisoners sigh 
as they are taken over it into prison. 

Brokers' Technicalities.— A bull is one who operates to de- 
press the value of stocks that he may buy for a 
rise. 

(b.) A bear is one who sells stock for future delivery 
which he does not own at the time of sale. 

(c.) A corner is when the bears cannot buy or borrow 
the stock to be delivered, in fulfillment of their 
contracts. 

(d. ) Short is when a person or party sells stock when 
he has none, and expects to buy or borrow in time 
to deliver. 

(e. ) Long is when a person or party has a plentiful 
supply of stocks. 

{/. ) A pool or ring is a combination of firms or cor- 
porations to pool (lump) their earnings, and divide 
the sum total of the parties according to an agreed 
proportion for the purpose of preventing competi- 
tion among the members of the pool. 

(jr. ) A trust is an agreement between several corpor- 
ations representing identical branches or interests, 
whereby said corporations are entrusted to the 
management of one man, or set of men, called a 
trustee, for the purpose of controlling prices, pro- 
ductions, etc. 

Burking.— Burking is the obtaining a body for dissection 
in an irregular way. This horrid pursuit was 
first practiced by one, Burke, who, in connection 



the; composer's friend. 



219 



with an associate by the name of Hare, murdered 
men in Edinburgh for the purpose of selling 
their bodies for dissection. 

Cabal.— This term of reproach, signifying any secret 
committee, or junto, was derived from the initial 
letters of the intriguing and unpopular ministry 
that succeeded the fall of L,ord Clarendon in the 
17th century (Clifford, Ashley, Buckley, Arling- 
ton, Iyauderdale. ) 

Cannon Balls.— The range of cannon balls is furthest 
when fired from West to East, in the direction of 
the earth's motion, and go furthest at an elevation 
of 30 degrees. Why ? 

Capitol at Washington.— The corner-stone of the capitol at 
Washington was laid by George Washington in 
the year 1793, who also selected the site for the 
structure. It cost over $10,000,000, and at this 
writing (1895) it is not yet completed. The 
North and South wings were completed in 18 13. 

Center of Population.— The center of population of the 
United States (1890) lies a little West of Cincin- 
nati, O. 

Chinese Wall. -The great wall of China was from 1 5 to 
30 ft. high, and broad enough for six horsemen to 
ride abreast on it. 

Christmas Tree. — The Christmas Tree is a children's festival 
in which a tree (usually an evergreen) is secured 
and dressed with presents for children. This 
usually occurs during Christmas week. The cus- 



220 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



torn was originated by Martin Luther in the 16th 
century. 
Cities, Nicknames of. — 

Baltimore. — The Monumental City. 

Boston. — Hub City, City of Notions, Puritan 
City, City of Baked Beans, Modern Athens. 

Brooklyn. — City of Churches. 

Buffalo. — Queen City of the Lakes. 

Burlington, Ia. — Orchard City. 

Calcutta. — City of Palaces. 

Charleston, S. C. — Palmetto City. 

Chicago. — Garden City, Prairie City, Lake 
City, Windy City. 

Cincinnati. — Porkopolis, Queen City. 

Cleveland. — Forest City. 

Denison, Tex. — Gate City. 

Detroit, Mich. — City of the Straits. 

Dresden. — Athens of Germany. 

Edinburgh. — Athens of Scotland. 

Galveston. — Island City. 

Hannibal, Mo. — Bluff City. 

Indianapolis. — Railroad City. 

Keokuk, Ia. — Gate City. 

Louisville. — Falls City. 

Lowell. — City of Spindles. 

Milwaukee. — Cream City (so called from the 
color of bricks of which its houses are built. The 
clay from which they are made contains no iron.) 

Minneapolis. — City of Mills, Flour City. 

Mobile. — Bay City. 



the; composer's friend. 



221 



Nashville. — Athens of the South, City of 
New Haven. — Elm City. [Rocks. 
New Orleans. — Crescent City, Creole City. 
New York. — Gotham, Empire City. 
Philadelphia. — City of Brotherly I^ove, Quak- 
er City. 

Pittsburg, Pa. — Iron City, Smoky City, City 
of Spindles. 

Portland, Me. — Forest City. 

Rochester, N. Y. — Aqueduct City, Flour City. 

Rome.— Holy City, Eternal City. 

San Antonio. — Tamale City. 

San Francisco. — Gate City. 

Savannah. — Forest City of the South. 

Sheboygan. — Evergreen City. 

Springfield. — Flower City. 

St. Louis. — Mound City. 

Washington. — City of Magnificent Distances. 
Wheeling. — Nail City. 
Venice. — City of the Sea, Bride of the Sea. 
Clearing House.— A clearing house is the book-keeper for 

all the banks of a city. 
Clock, 4— A clock will gain time in winter because cold 
contracts the length of the pendulum, thus in- 
creasing its speed. It loses time in Summer be- 
cause heat expands the pendulum, and thus les- 
sens its speed. 
Coinage.— Thomas Jefferson was the author of our pres- 
ent system of coinage. The bill introducing it 
was introduced by him in 1785, and passed both 



222 



THE composer's friend. 



houses of congress in the same year. In 1786, 
the eagle, half eagle, dollar, half dollar, quarter 
dollar, dime, half dime, and cent were decided 
upon. The nickel five cent piece was coined in 
1865. 

The first mint was established at Philadelphia 
in 1 79 1. 

The gold dollar and double eagle were first 
coined in 1849. 

The last large copper cents were coined 
in 1857. 

Count Pulaski.— Count Pulaski died on board of the Wasp 
on the nth of October, 1779, and was buried be- 
neath the waters of the Savannah river. The 
flag which the ladies of Bethlehem presented him, 
was not buried with him at Savannah, as is usually 
stated, but was carried to Baltimore where it is 
carefully kept in a glass case of the Maryland 
Historical Society. 

Cremation.— To cremate a corpse, the furance is put at 
a white heat and the body, which has been cov- 
ered with a sheet wet with alum, is thrust in the 
oven. In half an hour it is incinerated but it 
cannot be touched for at least twenty-four hours, 
for the oven must be allowed to cool. Then the 
ashes, which have been kept from blowing away 
by the alum sheet, as it preserves its shape even 
when reduced to cinders, are collected. In ap- 
pearance, the ashes of a body are like small pieces 
of shipped slate rock, and a man who weighs 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



223 



about 225 pounds will make only about five to 
seven pounds of ashes. — Washington Times. 

Dark Ages, The— By the "dark ages " is meant that per- 
iod in English history antedating the Reformation. 

Darwinian Theory, The— The Darwinian theory, presup- 
poses that man sprang from the lower animals, or 
that one species begets another. 

Dead Horse. — 

Haircloth, Boots, Gloves, Combs and Various 
Useful Acids Made From the Horse. 
In these bicycle days, when a horse is hardly 
worth the price of his oats, and he is a better 
source of revenue, it may be interesting to know 
what becomes of the carcass when it goes to the 
rendering works in Paris or in Portland, Ore. 
Not long ago the Portland concern bought one 
round-up of Montana horses for $3 each. The 
canning of horse-flesh for European consumption 
is yet in its infancy, and there is but slight proba- 
bility that it will ever become a profitable indus- 
try. As a matter of fact, the horse carcass is 
more valuable for his chemical products than he 
ever will be as an article of food. 

Horses that have served useful and honorable 
careers of twenty to thirty years are fit only for 
the chemical process. When the retired animal is 
dragged in, it is first relieved of its hair by a shav- 
ing process. The tail and mane are especially 
valuable, and from these is made the haircloth of 
commerce. The short hair taken from the hide is 



224 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



used for stuffing cushions and ,horse collars, and 
thus the dead are made to minister to the comfort 
of the living. 

The hide of the horse is quite valuable and the 
leather known as cordovan is made from the skin 
over the rump. This leather is used in the man- 
ufacture of high class hunting and wading boots, 
as it can be made impervious to water. The 
other leather is soft and is used mostly for slippers 
and heavy driving gloves. The hoofs of the ani- 
mal are removed and after being boiled to extract 
the oil from them, the horny substance is shipped 
to the manufactories of combs and what are known 
as Mikado gods. 

Next the carcass is placed in a cylinder and 
cooked by steam at a pressure of three atmospheres. 
This separates the flesh from the bones. The leg 
bones are very hard and white, and are used for 
handles of pocket and table cutlery. The ribs 
and head are burned to make bone-black after 
they have been treated for the glue that is in them. 
In the calcining of these bones the vapors arising 
are condensed and form the chief source of car- 
bonate of ammonia, which constitutes the base of 
nearly all ammoniacal salts. There is an animal 
oil yielded in the cooking process which is a 
deadly poison, and enters into the composition of 
many insecticides and vermifuges. 

The bones to make glue are dissolved in muri- 
atic acid, which takes the phosphate of lime away, 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



225 



the soft element retaining the shape of the bone is 
dissolved in boiling water, cast into squares and 
dried on nets. The phosphate of lime, acted upon 
by sulphuric acid and calcined with carbon, pro- 
duces phosphorus for lucifer matches. The re- 
maining flesh is distilled to obtain carbonate of 
ammonia. The resulting mass is pounded up 
with potash, and then mixed with old nails and 
iron of every description; the whole is calcined 
and yields little yellow crystals — prussiate of pot- 
ash, with which tissues are dyed a Prussian blue 
and iron transformed into steel. It also forms 
cyanide of potassium and prussic acid, the two 
most terrible poisons known in chemistry. 

In the course of a lawsuit in St. Louis several 
years ago it was put in evidence that the River 
Rendering Company, which had the contract for 
the removal of dead animals from the city streets, 
made a clear profit of $24 on each horse carcass 
that they handled. 
(See poem " Ode to a Dead Horse.") 
Dead Sea of America, The— Medical lake, so called on ac- 
count of the remedial virtues of its waters, situated 
on the great Columbia plateau, in southern Wash- 
ington, at an altitude of 2,300 feet above the level 
of the Pacific, is the Dead sea of America. It is 
about a mile long and from a half to three-quarters 
of a mile in width, and with maximum depth of 
about sixty feet. The composition of the waters 
of this Alpine lake is almost identical with that of 



226 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



the Dead sea of Palestine, and/ like its oriental 
counterpart, no plant has yet been found growing 
in or near its edges. It is all but devoid of ani- 
mal life, a species of large 1 ' boat bug, ' ' a queer lit- 
tle terrapin and the famous " walking fish " being 
its only inhabitants. This walking fish is an oddity 
really deserving of special note. It is from eight to 
nine inches long and has a finny membrane ex- 
tending from head to tail, even around both the 
upper and lower surfaces of the tail. It is pro- 
vided with four legs, those before having four 
toes, the hinder five. — From the San Francisco 
Examiner. 

Dew— Dew is a great respecter of colors. To prove 
this take pieces of glass or boards and paint them 
red, yellow, green, and black. Expose them at 
night and you will find that the yellow will be 
covered with moisture; that the green will be 
damp, but that the red and black will be left per- 
fectly dry. 

Distinguished Americans, Who Began Life in Low Places. — Abraham 
Li?icoln was once a rail-splitter, having done that 
duty a few miles west of Decatur, 111. 

The late A. T. Stewart began life by peddling 
laces, pins, needles, etc., to servant girls. 

Gen. Grant once worked in a tannery at Galena, 
111. , with his father. 

Vice-President Colfax was a printer. 

Cornelius Vanderbilt once ran a little insignifi- 
cant saloon over on Staten Island. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



227 



George Washington was a surveyor. 
James A. Garfield worked on the tow-path. 
Andrew Johnson was a tailor's apprentice until 
seventeen years of age. 

Benjamin Franklin was a printer. 
Henry Clay was a miller. 

Roger Sherman, of revolutionary fame, worked 
on the shoemaker's bench till he was twenty-one 
years of age. 

Stephen A. Douglass, once United States Sena- 
tor from Illinois, was a cabinet maker. 

Nathaniel Bowditch, the eminent mathematician 
and scholar, was bred to his father's trade, as a 
cooper. 

Elihu Barritt, the eminent scholar and humani- 
tarian, was known as the <4 Learned Blacksmith. " 

Gov. Jewell, of Connecticut, was a tanner. 

Gov. Clafiin, of Massachusetts, was a shoe- 
maker. 

The late Senator Wilson, of New Hampshire, 
born in poverty and want, served an apprentice- 
ship of eleven years at a mechanic's trade; after- 
wards drove team, cut mill-logs, and chopped 
wood. 

Thurlow Weed, for a long time one of the most 
influential editors and politicians of the country, 
tramped two miles through the snow, shoeless, 
with his feet swaddled in the remnants of a rag 
carpet, to borrow a history of the French Revolu- 



228 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



tion, which he read through while tending " sap 
bush." 

Henry Ward Beecher, in his time the most elo- 
quent and popular preacher in the world, began 
preaching in an obscure town in Indiana to a 
church of nineteen members, where he himself 
acted as sexton. The church had no lamps, and 
no hymn-books, and the membership could raise 
scarcely two hundred and fifty dollars per annum. 

Horace Greeley, late editor-in-chief of the most 
powerful and widely circulated political journal in 
America, the New York Tribune, began life at the 
bottom of the ladder, and reached the top by his 
own efforts. 

Wm. Waldorf Astor used to peddle apples in a 
basket swung from his arm. 

Rumford, Rittenhouse, Webster, Patrick Henry, 
Andrew Jackson, and Frederick Douglass, all began 
life in low places. 

Dog Days.— By " Dog Days" is meant the days of the 
year when Sirius rises and sets with the sun. — 
They commence with the latter part of July, and 
close in early September. Sirius is sometimes 
called the " dog star." 

Domesday Book (Doom's Day Book).— This was a register 
showing the extent, nature, divisions, products, 
woods, and mines of all the landed property in 
the several counties of the Kingdom, compiled at 
the direction of William the Conqueror, and com- 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



229 



pleted in 1086, or the year before the Conqueror's 
death. 

Dred Scott Decision.— The Supreme Court of the United 
States, in 1857, decided that the Missouri Com- 
promise was unconstitutional, and that slave own- 
ers might carry their slaves into any State in the 
Union, the case of Dred Scott, a slave, being the 
occasion. 

Drowned Body. — The force of the concussion produced by 
firing a cannon over a drowned body, will bring it 
to the surface. 

Earthworm, The— When cut in two, the anterior part of 
the earthworm will form a new head; if in the 
posterior part, a new tail. 

Earwig, The— The earwig is the only insect known to sit 
on its eggs and brood its young as does a hen. 

Easter.— faster Sunday commemorates the resurrection 
of Christ, and occurs on the first Sunday after 
Good Friday, or the first Sunday after the four- 
teenth day of the calendar moon, which happens 
upon, or next after, the 21st day of March, 
according to the rules laid down for the construc- 
tion of the calendar; therefore, if the fourteenth 
day happens on a Sunday, Easter day is the Sun- 
day after Easter. 

Eel, The— The eel is the only fish which has both lungs 
and gills. 

Enyelopes.— Envelopes have only come into common use 
since the introduction of the uniform charge for 



230 THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



postage (1840). Below, see correct form for ad- 
dressing: 











STAMP. 




Miss Irene C. Wilmott, 




(Dallas, 




(Dallas Co., 




Tex. 



Field of the Cloth of Gold.— This was the place of meeting, 
near Calais, France, between Francis, king of 
France, and Henry VIII, of England, for the 
purpose on the part of the former to strengthen 
himself against the power of his great rival — 
Charles of Spain. The place received its name on 
account of the georgeousness of the display on 
both sides, under the management of Wolsey. 
FIRST THINGS. 

Advertisements. — The first newspaper advertisement ap- 
peared in Europe in 1652. 

America. — America was discovered by Christopher Col- 
umbus on Friday, Oct. 12, 1492. 

American Protective Association. — Founded 1887; mem- 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



2 3 I 



bership claimed (United States and Canada) nearly 
2,000,000. 

Ba,7ik. — The first bank in the United States was char- 
tered in Philadelphia in 1780. 

Baptist Young People 's Uuion of America. — Founded 
1 891. 

Bible, The — The first translation of the Bible was the 
celebrated Greek version of the Old Testament, 
called the Septuagint, made 285 B. C. The 
meaning of the title is seventy, and was bestowed 
upon the work because of the approval of the ver- 
sion by the Sanhedrim, the highest Jewish court, 
composed of seventy-one members. 

The first complete copy of the English Bible 
was printed during the reign of that wicked king, 
Henry VIII. 

Bicycle. — The first bicycle built in America was con- 
structed in 1877, and cost over $300. 

Book. — The first book printed in England was one en- 
titled the " Game and Playeof Chesse," by Wm. 
Caxton, in 15th century, during reign of Edward 
IV. 

Bridges. — Coolbrookdale bridge, over the Severn, Eng- 
land, was the first cast-iron bridge. It was built 
in 1779. — The old London bridge was the first 
stone bridge. It was commenced in 11 76 and 
completed in 1200. 

Buildings. — The oldest building in the United States — 
the oldest conventual structure — is the Ursuline 
Convent in Louisiana. Its walls are of home made 



232 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



brick, the beams and rafters are of rough hewn 
cypress that grew perhaps on the very spot where 
now they support their ecclesiastical burden; the 
bolts, bars, nails, hinges and balustrades are of 
iron and wrought in the government workshop by 
brute African slaves. It required seven years to 
complete this building and in 1734, Gov. Bienville 
formally installed Ursuline Nuns therein. 

Carriages. — The first wheeled carriages were used in 
France in 1559. 

Coaches. — Coaches were first used in England in 1569. 

Cotton Gin. — The first cotton gin was invented by Eli 
Whitney in 1792. 

Christian Endeavo? — A non- sectarian, religious organi- 
zation, founded in February, 1 88 1, by the Rev. Fran- 
cis E. Clark, D. D., at Portland, Maine, with an 
original membership of less than fifty. In 1896 
the movement had extended to nearly every 
foreign country and missionary land, was endorsed 
by thirty-two Christian denominations, with 43, 
579 societies organized, and a total membership of 
about 2,600,000. An international organization, 
known as the World's Union of Christian En- 
deavor, has been recently organized, with a view to 
holding a general convention every three years, 
the first convention being held in Washington, 
D. C, in July, 1896. Rev. Dr. Clark, the 
founder of this remarkably successful enterprise, 
is President of the United Society in this country 
and also of the World's Union. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



233 



Dollar, The — The Dollar was first coined at Joachims- 
thal, a mining town of Bohemia. — Previous to 
July 6, 1785, the English system of money was in 
use in the States. — On that date congress estab- 
lished our American Dollar. 

Electric Locomotive. — There has just been turned out by 
the Baldwin Locomotive Works and the Westing- 
house Klectrial Company, working in conjunction, 
a lightning express electrical locomotive that runs 
120 miles an hour. This latest electrical marvel 
could bring San Francisco within two and one- 
half days of New York. 

It can move about four times as fast as the aver- 
age railway train — is built on strong lines, weighs 
75 tons, and is 37 ft. long. 

Envelopes. — Envelopes were first used in 1839. 

Flag. — The continental congress adopted the stars and 
stripes as the flag of the United States, June 14, 
1777. The first U. S. flag was made by a Mrs. 
Ross. The flag contains 13 stripes, corresponding 
with the number of original states, and as many 
stars as existing states. 

Glass Windows. — Glass windows were first introduced 
into England in the eighth century. 

Gold. — Gold was discovered in California in 1848. 

Grand Army of the Republic. — Founded 1866; depart- 
ments 45; posts 7,303; members 357,639. 

Great Britain. — The union of Scotland with England, 
under the government of Great Britain, was effected 
in 1707, and with Ireland in 1801, under the title 



234 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



of ' 1 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and 
Ireland." 

Gun Powder. — Schwartz was the first to discover a 
method for producing granulated gunpowder ( 1320) 
and adapted it to practical use; though Roger Bacon 
had invented it in 1270, just prior to his death. 

Kerosene. — Kerosene was first used for lighting pur- 
poses in 1826. 

Knives. — Knives were first used in England in 1559. 

Locomotive. — The first locomotive built in the United 
States was in Hartford, Conn., in 1798. 

Matches. — The first lucifer match was made in 1829. 

Mint. — The first mint in the United States was estab- 
lished at Philadelphia, in 1 79 1 . 

Needles. — Modern needles first came into use in 1545. 

Newspaper. — The first English newspaper was printed 
in 1688; the first in the United States was the 
" News Letter," issued in Boston in 1704. 
First Daily paper was issued in 1792. 

Pen. — The first steel pen was made in 1830. 

Pins. — Pins first came into use during the reign of 
Queen Elizabeth, in the 16th century. 

Post Office. — The first Post Office established was in 
Europe in 1464. 

Pri?iting Press. — The first printing press in the United 
States was set up at Cambridge, Mass., in January, 
1639. 

Railroad. — The first railroad was built during the years 
1826-27. 

Represe7itative Assembly. — The first representative as- 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



2J5 



sembly in America met at Jamestown, Va. , July 30, 
1619. 

Secession. — South Carolina was the first state to secede 
from the union, and Texas was the last to recon- 
struct. 

Sewing Machine. — The first complete sewing machine 
was patented by Hlias Howe, Jr., in 1846. 

Steamboat. — The first steamboat was invented by Robt. 
Fulton. She made her first trip on the Hudson 
in September 1807; though an unsuccessful at- 
tempt had been made 19 years before (1788) to 
ply the Delaware river. — The invention proved 
useless for practical purposes. 

Steamship. — The first steamship to cross the Atlantic 
was the Savannah in 18 19. * * The first iron 
steamship was built in 1830. 

Tha?iksgiving . — Thanksgiving as an institution, is 
traceable to Wm. Bradford, governor of the old 
Plymouth colony of Massachusetts, as originator. 

Telegraph. — The first telegraph line built in America 
extended from Washington, D. C. to Baltimore. 
The first message was sent May 27, 1844. 

Telescopes. — Telescopes were invented in 1590. 

Watches. — Watches were first constructed in 1476. 

Young Men 's Christian Association. — Founded (Eng- 
land) 1844, introduced into United States 1851; 
local associations 1431; members 244,077. 

Flag Day.— June 14, has been designated as Flag Day, in 
the United States. — It is a day on which the na- 
tional colors are generally displayed on private 



236 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



houses and public buildings, and the spirit of pa- 
triotism and pride runs high in the American 
breast. 

Flesh of Different Animals When Killed and Prepared for Food. — 

The flesh of the ox or cow is called beef; the calf, 
veal\ the lamb, lamb; the sheep, mutton; the deer, 
venison; the hog, pork or bacon; the goat, kid; the 
bear, bear meat. 

Forest Laws.— The Forest laws, of England, were severe 
laws passed by William the Conqueror, in 108 1, 
for the protection of game. According to these 
laws the punishment for killing a deer or a wild 
boar was greater than for killing a human being. 

Four Stomachs.— The camel, the deer, the sheep, and all 
animals of the bovine kind have four stomachs. 

France, Elections hi— i n France the elections are held on 
Sunday. 

Freezing and Boiling.— Water freezes at 32 degrees above 
zero, and boils at 210 degrees. * * * Quicksilver 
freezes at 39 degrees, and boils at 662 degrees, 
Fahrenheit. 

Ground Hog Day.— The 2nd of February is called ground 
hog day. Tradition has it that if on this day the 
ground hog comes out of its hole and sees its 
shadow, it is an indication of six weeks of bad 
weather, during which time the hog will remain 
in its hole. 

Groups, Names Applied to— Say a fleet of ships; a flock of 
sheep; a drove of hogs, or cattle; a herd of cattle; 
a bevy of birds, or girls; a swarm of bees, or 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



237 



locusts; a group in a picture; a galaxy of beauties, 
or pictures; a crowd of men or boys; a <r0z^ of 
quails; a school of fish; & pack of dogs, or wolves; 
a <W of ants; & gang oi thieves; a host oi angels; 
a of porpoises; a troup of buffaloes; a forafe 
of ruffians; a /z<?a/ of rubbish; a drove of oxen, or 
cattle; a of blackguards; a congregation of 

worshippers; a <r^;^ of engineers, or teachers; a 
band of robbers; a group of children; a bundle of 
sticks, papers, clothes, etc.; a of orders. 
Gunpowder Plot.— This was a reputed conspiracy planned 
by the Catholic party, in 1605, to overturn the 
government by the destruction of King James I, 
of England, and both houses of parliament. For 
this purpose a vault beneath the house of lords 
was hired, and thirty-six barrels of gunpower 
were stored therein, which, on the assembling of 
parliament, were to be touched off by one Gfty 
Fawkes, an officer in the Spanish service, who 
was brought to England to perpetrate the act. 
The plot was discovered just on the eve of its 
execution. 

Hackensack i s the name of a river in New Jersey. 

Hairs on a Human Head— A German physiologist devoted 
himself with great patience to the counting of the 
hairs on different heads. He ascertained the 
average number on a human head, and found 
that, taking four heads of hair of equal weight, 
the number of hairs, according to color, was as 
follows: Red, 90,000; black, 130,000; brown, 
109,000; fair, 140,000. 



238 THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 

Henry Clay.— The only instance on record of a senator 
being seated under the constitutional age, was in 
the seating of Henry Clay, who was elected when 
he was twenty-nine. 

Holland.— Holland, a very fertile country of Europe, lies 
below the level of the North Sea. 

Horse of Mary Price, The— A wooden horse with a sharp 
back, used in colonial times, upon which offenders 
were strapped for petty violations of the town 
laws. A woman named Mary Price was the first 
offender to ride this horse; hence, it was ever 
afterward known as the " Horse of Mary Price." 
HOUSEHOLD HINTS. 

Ants.- — Sprigs of wintergreen or ground ivy will drive 
away red ants. Branches of wormwood will 
drive away black ants. — These insects may be 
* kept out of sugar barrels by drawing a wide mark 
with white chalk around the top near the edge. 

Bites. — For bites of cats, apply fat salt pork to the 
wound for a day or two, until the poison is all 
extracted. 

For bites and stings of insects, wash with a solu- 
tion of water of ammonia. 

For mad dog bites, give enough whiskey to 
cause sleep, and apply caustic potash to the 
wound. See a physician at once. 

For rattlesnake bites, give enough whiskey to 
cause intoxication. 
Boots. — To make leather boots water-proof, saturate 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



239 



them with castor oil. To stop squeaking, drive a 
peg in the sole. 

Burns. — For burns, make a paste of baking soda and 
water, and apply it promptly to the burn. — It will 
check the inflammation and pain. 

Furniture. — To clean furniture, first rub with a cotton 
waste dipped in boiled linseed oil, then rub clean, 
and dry with a soft flannel cloth. Care must be 
taken that the oil is all rubbed off. 

Gilt Frames. — To restore and clean gilt frames, gently 
rub with a sponge moistened with turpentine. 

Glass Stoppers. — To remove a glass stopper from a bot- 
tle, warm the neck of the bottle with a hot iron, or 
by rubbing a short time with the hand, taking 
care not to warm the stopper. — This will cause 
the neck of the bottle to expand, when the stop- 
per may be removed with ease. 

Grease Spots. — To remove, thoroughly saturate with 
turpentine, place a soft blotting paper beneath, an- 
other on top of the spot, and press it hard with a 
hot iron. — The tat is dissolved and absorbed by 
the paper. 

Hard Water. — To soften, boil and expose to the atmos- 
phere. Add a little soda. 

Hair. — To clean hair, wash well with a mixture of soft 
water, one pint; soda, one ounce; cream tartar, 
one fourth ounce. 

Ink Stains. — To remove, wash carefully with pure 
water, and apply oxalic acid. If the latter changes 



240 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



the dye to a red tinge, restore the color with dilute 
water of ammonia. 
Iron Rust. — To remove from muslin and white goods, 
thoroughly saturate spots with lemon juice and 
salt, and expose to the sun. Repeat. To pre- 
vent its appearance on other clothes while being 
washed, enclose in a muslin bag while being 
boiled. 

Paint. — Chloroform will remove paint from clothing. 
When the color of the fabric has been changed by 
an acid, ammonia is applied to neutralize the 
same, after which an application of chloroform 
will, in nearly all cases, restore the color. 

Screws. — To remove an obdurate screw, apply a red hot 
iron to the head for a short time, the screw driver 
being applied at once while the screw is hot. 

Silver Ware. — To prevent articles of silverware from 
tarnishing, first warm them, and then paint them 
with a thin solution of collodion in alcohol, using 
a wide, soft brush for the purpose. 

Stains of Ftuits. — To remove the stains of acid fruits 
from the hands, wash them in clear water, dry 
slightly, and while yet moist, strike a match and 
hold your hands around the flame. 

Starch. — To prevent starch from souring when boiled, 

add a little sulphate of copper. 
Vomiti?ig. — To stop vomiting, drink freely of as hot 
water as can be borne. 
(See Antidotes for Poisons. ) 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



241 



Water Filter. — To make a water filter, take a deep 
flower pot, and put a compressed sponge in the bot- 
tom. Over the sponge put a layer of pebbles an inch 
thick; next an inch of coarse sand; next a layer 
of charcoal; and at the top another layer of peb- 
bles. — The water will filter pure and clean 
through the aperture into another vessel, however 
impure previously. Two thicknesses of flannel 
make a fairly good filter. 

Human Heart, Size of— The human heart is 6 inches in 
length, 4 inches in diameter, and beats an averge 
of 70 times per minute, 4,200 times an hour, 100.- 
800 times per day, 3,681,720 times per year. So 
in a life of eighty years the heart beats 300,000,- 
000 times. 

Humming of Telegraph Wires.— The humming and singing of 
telegraph and telephone wires, heard on cold win- 
ter mornings, when the frost on the wires is as 
fuzzy and thick as a roll of chenille fringe, is not 
caused by the action of the wind on the wires, 
but, according to an Australian scientist, the 
vibrations are due to the changes of atmospheric 
temperature, and especially through the action of 
cold, as a lowering of temperature induces a short- 
ening of the wires extending over the whole of 
the conductor. A considerable amount of friction 
is produced on the supporting bells, thus inducing 
sounds both on the wires and the poles. 

Ice, Strength of— l ce two inches thick will support a man; 
four inches, a man on horseback; six inches, 
horses and loaded wagon; ten inches, an army. 



242 



THE composer's friend. 



John O'Groat's House.— This is a house built at the most 
northerly point of Scotland, by John O' Groat, 
who made himself famous by devising a plan for 
settling a quarrel among his nine sons, as to 
which should have the precedent in going in and 
out of the house. He settled this by having as 
many doors cut in his mansion as he had sons. 
The house is now used as an inn, and is 994 miles 
from Land's End, Eng. 

Keystone State.— Pennsylvania was so-called because it 
was the central state of the original thirteen. 

Knot in a Bone.— By soaking a bone in a solution of 
muriatic acid you may be able to tie a knot in it. 

Labor Day.— The first Monday in September of each 
year has been designated by Congress as Labor 
Day. It is a national holiday, and on this day 
labor organizations usually turn out with all the 
pomp and enthusiasm that are customary on such 
occasions. 

Large Families.— Fedor VassilefT, of Moscow, 1782, was 
the father of 87 children. Mme. Frescobaldi 
(1570) of Italy, who never had less than three 
children at a birth, was the mother of 52 children. 

Little Lamb's Mary.— Mrs. Mary Tyler, the original hero- 
ine of the familiar poem, " Mary Had a Little 
Lamb," resided at Somerville, Mass., until her 
death, which occurred not long ago. The inci- 
dent of the pet lamb following her to school 
actually occurred in her childhood, just as is told 
in the jingle, and was afterward immortalized by 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



243 



a youth who was then one of the school children. 
As an old woman Mrs. Tyler was always proud to 
show bits of the famous 1 1 fleece as white as 
snow," in various stages of evolution, from the 
raw wool into a soft dress fabric. 
Longevity of Different Animals. — 

Whale, - - 1000 yrs. Bear, - -20 yrs. 



Elephant, 


400 ' 1 


Cow, 


20 


Swan. - 


- 300 " 


Deer, 


- 20 


Tortoise, 


100 " 


Pig, - 


20 


Eagle, - 


- 100 " 


Dog, - 


- 20 


Raven, 


100 " 


Sheep, 


19 


Camel, - 


- 100 " 


Cat, 


- 15 


Lion, 


7o " 


Fox, 


15 


Porpoise, 


- 30 " 


Squirrel, 


- 8 


Horse, 


-25 to 30 " 


Rabbit, 


7 



Mason and Dixon's Line.— The southern boundary line 
which formerly separated the free state of Penn- 
sylvania from the slave states of Maryland and 
Virginia. With the exception of about twenty- 
two miles, it was run by Chas. Mason and Jere- 
miah Dixon, two English surveyors, during the 
years 1863 — 7« 

Mecklenburg Declaration. -This was a manifesto of a band 
of patriots, at Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N. C, 
in May, 1775, declaring their independence of the 
king and parliament. 

Milan Decree.— An order issued by Napoleon confiscating 
all vessels which had submitted to search by an 
English vessel, or had paid tribute. — This was 



244 THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 

issued in retaliation to the famous ? ' Orders in 
Council" of the British government, forbidding 
all neutral nations from trading with France or 
her allies, except upon payment of a tribute to 
England. 

Mississippi River.— The Mississippi runs uphill, being 
higher at its mouth than at its source. 

Missouri Compromise.— This compromise admitted the state 
of Missouri into the Union as a slave state (in 
182 1 ) but prohibited slavery in all territory west 
of the Mississippi, and north of 36 30' north 
latitude. 

Monroe Doctrine, The— We owe it to candor and to the 
amicable relations existing between the United 
States and the allied powers to declare that we 
should consider any attempt on their part to 
extend their system to any portion of this hemi- 
sphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. With 
the existing colonies or dependencies of any Euro- 
pean power we have not interfered and shall not 
interfere; but with the governments which have 
declared their independence and maintained it, 
and whose independence we have, on great con- 
sideration and just principles, acknowledged, we 
could not view an interposition for oppressing 
them or controlling in any other manner their 
destiny by any European power in any other light 
than as a manifestation of an unfriendly disposi- 
tion toward the United States. — President Monroe, 
in his message to Congress, 1823. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



245 



Nations of the World and Titles of Rulers.— 



Government. 


TlTI,E. 


Argentine Republic, 


President. 


Austria-Hungary, 


Emperor. 


Belgium, 


King. 


Bolivia, 


President. 


Brazil, 


President. 


Chile, 


President. 


China, 


Emperor. 


Colombia, 


President. 


Costa Rica, 


President. 


Denmark, 


King. 


Ecuador, 


President. 


Hgypt, 


Khedive. 


France, 


President. 


Germany, 


Emperor. 


Great Britain and \ 


Queen and Empress of In- 


Ireland, j 


dia. 


Greece, 


King. 


Guatemala, 


President. 


Hayti, 


President. 


Hawaiian Islands, 


President. 


Honduras, 


President. 


Italy, 


King. 


Japan, 


Mikado or Emperor. 


Mexico, 


President. 


Morocco, 


Sultan. 


Netherlands, 


Regent. 


Nicaragua, 


President. 


Paraguay, 


President. 



246 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Persia, Shah. 

Peru, President. 

Portugal, King. 

Roumania, King. 

Russia, Emperor. 

Salvador, President. 

Samoa, King. 

Servia, King. 

Spain, King. 

Sweden and Norway, King. 

Switzerland, President. 

Turkey, Sultan. 

United States, President. 

Uraguay, President. 

Venezuela, President. 
Negro la War, The— The Negro participated in 249 battles 

during the late civil war. He was the subject of 

extreme cruelty at Fort Pillow. 
"News."— The word "news" was not, as many sup- 
pose, derived from the adjective new, but from 

the fact that many years ago it was customary to 

put at the head of the periodical publications of 

the day the initial letters of the compass, thus: 

N 



W- 



s 

signifying that the matter contained therein came 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



247 



from the four quarters of the globe. — From the 
letters came the word ' ' News. ' ' 
Newspapers, Daily— The number of daily newspapers in 
the United States at this date (January, 1896) ap- 
proximates 1500, with an aggregate circulation of 
5,500,000. 

Noah's Tomb.— The tomb of Noah is supposed to lie in 
the small town of Nakhtcheoan, on the plain of 
Ararat. The burial-place is at the side of the 
broken walls of an abandoned fortress in the 
midst of a vast plain, which is literally covered 
with the remains of by-gone glories. 
Nom de Plumes and Sobriquets of Famous Men and Women. — 

" Old Hickory" was Andrew Jackson. 

The "Plumed Knight "—James G. Blaine. 

"Old Rough and Ready "— Zachary Taylor. 

" Mad Anthony" — Anthony Wayne. 

" Iyight Horse Harry" — Richard Henry L,ee, 
a soldier of the civil war. 

" Maid of Orleans " — Joan of Arc. 

" Old Put "—Israel Putnam. 

" Tippecanoe " — William Henry Harrison. 

"The Little Giant "—Stephen A. Douglass. 

" Headstrong Peter " — Peter Stuyvesant. 

The " Rail-road King "—Jay Gould. 

The " Old Roman "—Allen G. Thurman. 

"King of the Piano- forte " — Franz Iyiszt, of 
Germany. 

"Tall Sycamore of the Wabash "—Daniel 
Voorhees. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 

"Defender of the Faith "—Henry VIII.— 
(This title was conferred by Pope Leo X, by rea- 
son of Henry's published defense of the faith of 
the Catholic Church, that doctrine having been 
assailed by Martin Luther.) 

" Sage of Chapaqua " — Horace Greely. 

" Sage of Anacostia " — Frederick Douglass. 

"Sage of Medicine Lodge" — Jerry Simpson; 
also called " Sockless Simpson." 

The " Great American Commoner " — Thaddeus 
Stevens. 

" Josh Billings "—Henry W. Shaw. 

The ' ' Dark Horse President, " " The Accidental 
President "— R. B. Hayes. 

The " Teacher- President " — James A. Garfield. 

"English Justinian" — Edward I, of England. 

" Black Patti " — Madame Sissieretta Jones. 

" Petroleum V. Nasby "— D. R. Locke. 

"Owen Meredith "—Rob' t Bulwer Lytton. 

" George Eliot " — Maria Evans Lewes. 

"Mother Goose" — Elizabeth Goose, nee 
Foster, of Boston. 

" Honest Abe " — Abraham Lincoln. 

" Pathfinder of the Rocky Mountains" — John 
C. Freemont. 

" Old Silver-leg "—Peter Stnyvesant. 

The " Policy President "— R. B. Hayes. 

The " Learned Blacksmith "— Elihu Burritt. 

" Bachelor President " — James Buchanan. 



THE composer's friend. 



249 



(Chester A. Arthur was also so-called, likewise 
the " 4th Accidental President.") 

" Artemus Ward"— Cha's F. Browne. 

" Old Man Eloquent "— W. K. Gladstone. 

(J. Q. Adams and Frederick Douglass were 
also so-called.) 

" Sage of Gramercy Park "— S. J. Tilden. 

" Bruce Grit "—J. E. Bruce. 

The " Silent President "— U. S. Grant. 

"Third Accidental President," "Independent 
President " — Andrew Johnson. 

"Father of English Poetry "—Geoffrey Chau- 
cer, author of Canterbury Tales. 

" Yankee President " — Franklin Pierce. 

" Fighting President " — Andrew Jackson. 

"Black Prince" — Edward, Prince of Wales, 
son of Edward III. 

The ' 1 Poor but Spotless President ' ' — James 
Monroe. 

1 ' Father of his Country ' ' — George Washington. 

The " Poet Painter "—Thomas B. Read. 

" Sage of Monticello " — Thomas Jefferson. 

" Boy Poet "—Thomas Chatterton. 

" Poet of Nature "— W. C. Bryant. 

"Timothy Titcomb "—J. G. Holland. 

" Quaker Poet "—J. G. Whittier. 

" Sophie Sparkle " — Mrs. Jennie E. Hicks. 

" Mill Boy of the Slashes "—Henry Clay. 

" Hero of Two Worlds "— LaFayette. 

' 1 Cincinnatus of the West ' • — Geo. Washington. 



250 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



The " Father of History "—Herodotus. 
" Man of Destiny " — Grover Cleveland. 

Names of Queen Elizabeth.— Queen Elizabeth was called 
Good Queen Bess by her friends and Bloody Bess 
by her enemies. She was also designated the 
Maiden Queen, the Queen of Virgins, the Un- 
tamed Heifer, Fortune's Empress, the Glory of 
her Sex, the Miracle of Time, Astraca, Oriana, 
the True Diana, Gloriana, and other names, re- 
spectful and the contrary. 

0. K.— The initials " O. K." are said to have been first 
used by Old Keokuk, an influential Indian chief, 
when he signed the deed to Iowa. Instead of 
writing his name in full, he simply wrote ' ' O. 
K.," the initials. From this, we find the signa- 
ture " Oil Korrect " originated. 

Ordeal, The— This was an ancient Saxon custom by which 
it was thought the guilt or innocence of the ac- 
cused could be determined. It was in this wise: 
A person having been accused of crime was re- 
quired, as a test, to thrust his arm into boiling 
water, grasp red hot irons, or walk barefooted 
over burning plowshares, and at the end of three 
days, if he were uninjured, his innocence was 
established. 

Pension Office. -The Pension Office is the largest brick 
building in the world, containing fifteen million 
and five hundred thousand bricks in its structure. 
It was finished in 1887, at the cost of about $750, 
000. The original plan shows a flat roof sur- 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



251 



mounted by a central dome, instead of the actual 
gable roof. The exterior dimensions are 200 by 
400 feet. The interior court measures 316 by 116 
feet. Extreme height in center, 159 feet. The 
central columns supporting the roof are 89 feet 
high, measure 25 feet in circumference, and con- 
tain in each single column 100,000 bricks. The 
general plan is copied from the Coliseum, a thea- 
ter in ancient Rome, the ruins of which are still 
standing. It had an oval shape, about 300 by 
500 feet, and had the galleries for the spectators 
around the interior court. With a little use of 
the imagination you can remove the interior col- 
umns from the Pension Office court, fill the gal- 
leries with the Roman populace, people the offices 
of the ground floor on one side with the aristoc- 
racy, and let the gladiators march out on the cen- 
tral sand past the Emperor's box, " saluting as 
they go to their death." 

Polyglot Petition.-The " Polyglot Petition " gotten up by 
the W. C. T. U., for the suppression of the opium 
traffic, the traffic of alcoholic liquors as a bever- 
age, and all forms of legalized vice, addressed to 
the governments of the world, was the largest on 
record at that date. — It contained in all 7,500,000 
names! The petition was first presented to Presi- 
dent Cleveland by a committee of ladies, headed 
by Miss Frances E. Willard, on Feb. 19th, 1895. 

Quails.— Quails are the only birds known to sit on their 
nest by turns. 



252 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Queen Elizabeth.— it i s said that at the death of Queen 
Elizabeth, of England, she left a wardrobe of 
3,000 dresses! 

Queen Victoria's surname is " Guelph." 

Quito is the only city situated on the equator. 

R«— This is said to be the explanation of the reason 
why physicians begin their prescriptions with the 
letter "R." It seems that during the Middle 
Ages, when astrology was in fashion, a character 
very much like our ' ' R " was the sign of Jupiter, 
the preserver of health. The physicians, being 
then equally devoted to science of medicine and 
astrology, invariably began their prescriptions 
with the following words: "In the name of 
Jupiter take the following doses in the time set 
down hereinafter." In the course of time this 
formula was abbreviated, until at present only the 
letter ' ' R " remains to teach us that the medical 
art was once associated with the science of the 
stars. — Boston Traveler. 

Ratio of Letters.— The ratio in which the different letters 
are used in the language is shown by the numbers 
of each letter supplied in a ' ' bill of type ' ' to the 
printers. The proportion is: z 3, x and j 5, q 6, 
k 8, v 15, b and g 20, p 24, w and y 25, m and f 
30, c 40, u 45, d and 1 50, h 60, r 70, n, o, and s 
80, a and i 90, t 100, and e 140. 

Red Cross Society.— The Red Cross Society was founded 
by a philanthropist, by name Henri Dunant, a 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



253 



resident of Geneva, Switzerland, on August 8, 
1864. 

A ' 1 red cross on a white ground ' ' is the dis- 
tinctive and uniform flag of the society, by which 
all hospitals, ambulances, or persons employed in 
the relief service are known. 

The American National Red Cross Society has 
extended its influence by applying its aid in case 
of other calamities of a national character; reliev- 
ing those suffering from famine, fires, etc., and 
doing much good by teaching the ignorant higher 
modes of living. This is called the ' ' American 
Amendment." 
Reformation, The— The Reformation is the revolt (begun 
in Germany in the 16th century) of the long-sub- 
ject masses of the European States against the 
authority of the church of Rome, under the lead- 
ership of Martin Luther. Luther reintroduced 
the use of both bread and wine in the Lord's sup- 
per. Formerly (for 400 years) only priests par- 
took of the wine, while the laity partook of the 
bread . 

The real beginning of the Reformation is 
placed in the year 15 17. 
Robbing Peter to Pay Paul.— This has the general sense of 
adding to one thing or person merely by depriv- 
ing another thing or person, and should run: 
"Robbing St. Peter to pay St. Paul." In the 
year 1550 several estates belonging to Westmin- 
ster Abbey, which is dedicated to St. Peter, T*ere 



254 the composer s friend. 

granted for the repair and sustenance of St. Paul's 
Cathedral. 

Roentgen Rays.— Photog. : A hitherto unknown manifes- 
tation of force or energy, recently discovered by 
Professor Roentgen, reported by him to the Med- 
ico-Physical Society of Wurzburg, on December 4, 
1895. 

The most notable quality of the Roentgen rays 
— or, as he terms them, of the X-rays — is the abil- 
ity to penetrate considerable thicknesses of sub- 
stances heretofore considered opaque to all known 
forms of light. 

It is interesting to. note the degree of trans- 
parency of various common substances. Cork 
and paper are very transparent; so are water and 
several other fluids, but not so much so as cork. 
Wood, ebonite, vulcanite and animal flesh are 
readily penetrated and for considerable thick- 
nesses; one observer has secured good results 
through eight inches of wood. 

Rubber Boots.— Rubber boots are unhealthful because 
they do not admit of proper ventilation, and con- 
sequently retain all the poisonous gases of the 
foot. Again they are good conductors of heat 
and are cold to the foot. 

Rule of the Road.— The ' ' Rule of the Road ' ' in old Eng- 
land has always been ' 1 Keep to the left. ' ' In new 
England, almost as soon as it was settled, the rule 
of the road came to be "Keep to the right," 
which is now the universal practice in this coun- 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



255 



try. A driver in order to have the free use of his 
right arm must sit to the right. He has his right 
fore hub under his eye, while he cannot see his 
left fore hub, and, therefore, can drive more 
safely if objects with which his wheels must not 
collide and which must be passed closely are kept 
on his right. The left fore hubs of vehicles com- 
ing in the opposite direction are what a driver is 
most frequently called upon to pass closely. 
Keeping to the right he cannot see either his own 
hub or the hub with which it is liable to collide as 
they pass each other. That is why the reasona- 
bleness of the American rule of the road is now 
called in question. 

RULES FOR SIMPLE INTEREST. 

Four Per Cent. — Multiply the principal by the num- 
ber of days to run; separate the right hand figure 
from the product and divide by 9. 

Five Per Cent. — Multiply by number of days, and di- 
vide by 72. 

Six Per Cent. — Multiply by number of days, separate 
right hand figure and divide by 6. 

Eight Per Cent. — Multiply by number of days and di- 
vide by 45. 

Nine Per Cent. — Multiply by number of days, separate 
right hand figure and divide by 4. 

Ten Per Cent. — Multiply by number of days, and di- 
vide by 36. 

Twelve Per Cent. — Multiply by number of days, sepa- 
rate right hand figure, and divide by 3. 



256 the: composer's friend. 

Sailing from America to Europe.— It takes less time to sail 
from America to Europe than from Europe to 
America, on account of prevailing winds and ocean 
currents. 

Sam Houston.— Governor of Texas, was deposed March 
26, 1 86 1, for refusal to take an oath of allegiance 
to the Confederate States of America. 

Seven Hills of Rome, The— The seven hills upon which Rome 
was built are the Capitoline, Aventine, Viminal, 
Coelian, Esquiline, Quirinal, and Palatine. 

Seven Wise Men of Greece, The— Solon, Chila, Pitticus, Bias, 
Periander, Thales, and Cliobulus nourished in 
Greece in the sixth century B. C, and were dis- 
tinguished for their practical sagacity and wise 
maxims. 

Seven Wonders of the World, The— The celebrated objects of 
the ancient world (as given by Philon, of Byzan- 
tium) were: 

The Pyramids of Egypt; The Temple of Diana, 
at Ephesus; The Statue of Jupiter Olympus; The 
Mausoleum of Artemisia, Asia Minor; Hanging 
Gardens of Babylon; Colossus of Rhodes; Pharos, 
or Watch Towers, at Alexandria. 
Shooting Stars. - Falling or shooting stars become more 
frequent the nth, 12th, and 13th of August, be- 
cause the attraction of the earth is greatest at that 
time. 

They become candescent by passing through 
our atmosphere. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



257 



Siberia.— In northern Siberia the ground is frozen per- 
manently to the depth of nearly 700 feet. In 
summer it thaws to the depth of 3 or 4 feet only. 

Spectacles.— Spectacles were invented about the thir- 
teenth century; though the use of glass to aid 
the sight of defective eyes is much older. Nero 
looked through a concave glass in watching the 
gladiatorial games. 

Sponge, The— The sponge is of animal growth, and found 
principally in the Mediterranean Sea, and West 
Indies. 

Squirrel, The— The squirrel, when travelling, if it come 
to a river it cannot cross, will use a piece of bark 
for a boat, and its tail for an oar. 

Stamp Act, The - The " stamp act " was a law passed by 
parliament in the Spring of 1765, providing that 
all notes, deeds, bills, and other legal documents 
should be written or printed on stamped paper, 
which was to be furnished by British revenue 
officers at certain fixed rates. The act was re- 
pealed Feb. 22, 1766. 

STATES AND TERRITORIES. 

(a) Derivation of Names of. — 

Alabama. — From an Indian word meaning 
' ' Here we rest. ' ' 

Arkansas. — From an Indian tribe of same 
name. 

California. — From a character in an old Span- 
ish romance. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 

Carolina . — From the Latin name Carolus 
(Charles)— Charles II. of England. 

Colorado. — Probably from the Spanish, mean- 
ing colored. 

Connecticut. — From an Indian word, mean- 
ing ' ' Long river. ' ' 

Dakota. — From a tribe of Indians by that 
name. 

Delaware. — From " De La War," at one 
time governor of Virginia. Lord Delaware. 

Florida. — From Pasqua de flores, Easter Sun- 
day, the day on which De Leon made the discov- 
ery of the Peninsula. Another version is that 
the name is derived from a word meaning flowery. 

Georgia. — From George II, of England. 

Illinois. — From an Indian word, meaning 
"River of Men." 

Indiana. — From an Indian word, meaning 
' 1 India?i Ground. ' ' 

Iowa. — From an Indian word, meaning "Drowsy 
Ones." 

Kansas. — From an Indian word, meaning 
1 1 Smoky Water. ' ' 

Kentucky. — From an Indian word, meaning 
' ' Dark and Bloody Ground. ' ' 

Louisiana. — From Louis XIV, of France. 

Maine. — From ' ' Mayne-land. ' ' 

Maryland. — From Queen Henrietta Maria. 

Massachusetts. — From an Indian term, mean- 
ing ' ' The Place of Great Hills, " or ' ' Blue Hills. ' ' 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



259 



Michigan. — From an Indian word, meaning 
" Great Lakes.''' 

Minnesota. — From an Indian term, meaning 
" Cloudy Water." 

Mississippi. — From an Indian word, meaning 
" Father of Waters." 

Missouri. — From an Indian term, meaning 
"Muddy Water." 

Nebraska. — From an Indian term, meaning 
" Water Valley." 

Nevada. — From a Spanish word, meaning 
" Snow Covered." 

New Hampshire. — From Hampshire, Eng. 

New Jersey. — From Jersey island, on the coast 
of France. 

New York. — From the Duke of York, Eng. 

Ohio. — From an Indian term, meaning " Beau- 
tiful River. ' ' 

Oregon. — From the Spanish Oregano, wild 
marjoram. 

Pennsylvania. — From Penn, and sylva (woods) 
— meaning " Penn' s Woods." 

Rhode Island. — From the island of Rhodes, 
Mediterranean Sea. — Another source, Roodt 
Eylandt (red island). 

Tennessee. — From an Indian term, meaning 
' ' River with a big bend. ' ' 

Texas. — From " Te'has" an Indian term, 
meaning "friends." 



26o THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 

Utah. — From Ute, Utah, or Yuta, a tribe of 
Indians. 

Vermont. — From verd (green) and mons 
(mountain) meaning " Green Mountain." 

Virginia. — From the Virgin Queen, Elizabeth. 

Washington. — In honor of George Washing- 
ton. 

Wisconsin. — From the Wiscon river, which 
was denominated by Marquette Masconsin, " Wild, 
rushing channel.'' The name was changed to 
Ouisconsin, and afterward to Wisconsin. 

Wyoming. — From an Indian term, meaning 
" Great Plain" after the Wyoming Valley, of 
Pennsylvania, whence emigrants came to this 
region. 
(£.) Mottoes of— 

United States. — E Pluribus Unum (One from 
many). 

Alabama. — " Here we rest." 

Arizona. — Sitat Deus (Founded by God). 

Arkansas. — Regnat Populi (the people rule). 
11 Mercy, justice." 

California. — Eureka (I have found it). 

Colorado. — Nil Sine Numine (Nothing with- 
out God). 

Connecticut. — Qui transtulit, sustinet — Lat. 
(He who brought us over sustains us). 

Delaware. — " liberty and Independence." 

District of Columbia.— -Justia omnibus (Jus- 
tice to all). 



THE COMPOSER'S ERIEND. 



26 1 



Florida. — " In God we trust." 
Georgia. — "Wisdom, Justice, and Modera- 
tion." 

Idaho. — Salve (Hail). 

Illinois. — "State Sovereignty, National Un- 
ion." 

Indiana. — No Motto. 

Iowa. — " Our liberties we prize, our rights we 
will maintain." 

Kansas. — Ad astra per aspera (through diffi- 
culties to the stars). 

Kentucky. — "United we stand, divided we 
fall." 

Louisiana. — " Union and Confidence." 

Maine. — Dirigo (I direct). 

Maryland. — Crescite et Multiplicamini. — L,at. 
(Increase and Multiply.) 

Massachusetts. — Ense petit placidam sub lib- 
ertate (By the sword she seeks placid rest in lib- 
erty). 

Michigan. — Si quaeris peninsulam amaenam 
circumspice. — Lat. (If you seek a delightful pen- 
insula, look about you.) 

Minnesota. — Etoile du Nord (the star of the 
north.) 

Mississippi. — No motto. 

Missouri. — Salus populi suprema lex esto. — L,at. 
(Let the welfare of the people be the supreme 
law.) 



262 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Montana. — Oro y plata (Gold and silver.) 

Nebraska. — " Equality Before the Law." 

Nevada. — " All for our country." Volens et 
potens (Willing and able). 

New Hampshire. — No motto. 

New Jersey. — "Liberty and Independence." 

New Mexico. — Crescit eundo (It increases by 
going). 

New York. — Excelsior (higher). 

North Carolina. — No motto. 

North Dakota. — "Liberty and union, one 
and inseparable, now and forever." 

Ohio. — Imperium in imperio. — Lat. 'An em- 
pire in an empire.) 

Oregon. — Alls volat propriis (She flies with her 
own wings.) "The Union." 

Pennsylvania. — "Virtue, Liberty, and Inde- 
pendence." " Both can't survive." 

Rhode Island. — " Hope." 

South Carolina. — Animis opibusque pariti 
(Ready in will and deed). Dum spiro spero. Spes. 
(While I breathe I hope. Hope.) 

South Dakota. — "Under God the people 
rule." 

Tennessee. — " Agriculture, Commerce." 
Texas. — No motto. 
Utah. — No motto. 
Vermont. — " Freedom and Unity." 
Virginia. — Sic semper tyrannis (Thus ever 
with tyrants.) 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



263 



Washington. — Exitus acta probat (The event 
justifies the deed). Al-ki (Bye-bye). 

WEST Virginia. — Montani semper liberi (Moun- 
taineers are always freemen.) 

Wisconsin. — Civilitas successit barbarum »The 
civilized man succeeds the barbarous). " For- 
ward." 

Wyoming. — Cedant arma togae (Let arms yield 
to the gown). 
(c. ) Nicknames of- — 

Alabama. — The Cotton State. 

Arkansas. — Bear State. 

California. — Golden State. 

Colorado. — Centennial State. 

Connecticut. — Nutmeg State, Freestone State, 
Land of Steady Habits. 

Delaware. — Diamond State. 

Florida. — Peninsular State. 

Georgia. — Goober State, Buzzard State, Em- 
pire State of the South. 

Illinois. — Prairie State, Sucker State. 

Indiana. — Hoosier State. 

Iowa. — Hawkeye State. 

Kansas. — Grasshopper State, Garden of the 
West. 

Kentucky. — Blue Grass State, Corn Cracker 
State, Dark and Bloody Ground. 

Louisiana. — Creole State, Pelican State. 
Maine. — Pine Tree State, Lumber State. 
Maryland. — The Old Line State. 



264 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Massachusetts. — Bay State, Old Colony, 
Baked Beans State. 

Michigan. — Lake State, Wolverine State. 

Minnesota. — Gopher State, Mother of Rivers, 
Lake State, North Star State. 

Mississippi. — Bayou State. 

Missouri. — Pike State, Iron State. 

Nebraska. — Bug State, Black-water State. 

Nevada. — Sage Hen State, Silver State. 

New Hampshire. — Granite State, Switzerland 
of America. 

New Jersey. — Garden State. 

New York. — Empire State, Excelsior State. 

North Carolina. — Old North State, Tar 
State, Turpentine State, Fur State. 

Ohio. — Buckeye State. 

Pennsylvania. — Keystone State, Quaker 
State. 

South Carolina. — Palmetto State. 

Tennessee. — Big Bend State. 

Texas. — Lone Star State. 

Utah. — Mormon State. 

Vermont. — Green Mountain State. 

Virginia. — Old Dominion, Mother of Presi- 
dents, Mother of States. 

West Virginia. — Pan Handle State. 

Wisconsin. — Badger State. 

Japan is called the Island Empire ; China the 
Celestial Empire. 
St. Peter's.— St. Peter's church, Rome, is supposed to be 
built over the bones of the Galilean fishermen. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



265 



SUPERLATIVE DEGREE. 

Assembly Room. — The Mormon Temple, of Salt Lake 
City, has the largest assembly room of any 
building in the United States. — Its seating capac- 
ity is 10,000. 
^See Buildings.) 

Beer. — In the manufacture and consumption of beer, 
Great Britain stands first; Germany second; 
United States third; Austria fourth; Belgium 
fifth ; France sixth ; and Russia seventh. 

Bells. — The largest bell in the world is the great bell 
of Moscow, at the foot of the Kremlin. — Its cir- 
cumference at the bottom is nearly 68 ft., and its 
height more than 21 ft. Its thickest part is 23 
inches. Its weight has been computed to be 
about 443,772 tbs. * * * The largest hanging 
bell in the world is in a Buddhist monastery, near 
Canton, China. — It is 18 ft. high, and 45 ft. in 
circumference. 

Bible. — The longest verse in the Bible is the 9th verse 
of the 8th chapter of Esther. There are no words 
or names of more than five syllables. The short- 
est is the 35th verse of nth chapter of St. John. 

Birds. — The condor, of South America, is the largest 
bird of flight, having been known to spread wings 
40 ft. from tip to tip. * * The ostrich is the 
largest bird in the world. * * The swiftest bird 
is the swift-flying swallow, whose speed is about 
200 miles per hour. * * The nightingale is said 
to be the sweetest singer. 
(See Longevity.) 



266 THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 

Bridges. — China has the longest bridge in the world, 
it being 23,000 ft. * * The longest in America 
is the Montreal bridge, 8,701 ft.; in the United 
States, the Brooklyn Bridge, spanning East river, 
between New York and Brooklyn. — Its entire 
length is 5,989 ft. It is 135 ft. high, cost $15,- 
000,000, and was thirteen years in building. It 
is a suspension bridge, and probably the longest 
of its class in the world. * * The Niagara sus- 
pension bridge is the tallest in the world, being 
250 ft. * * The Sublician bridge, Rome, is the 
oldest wooden bridge. 
(See First Things.) 

Buildi?igs — Seven Largest i?i the World. — 





City. 


Skating 
Capacity. 


Coliseum, 


Rome, 


- 87,000 


St. Peter's, 


Rome, - 


58,000 


Theatre of Pompey, 


Rome, 


- 40,000 


Cathedral, 


Milan, - 


40,000 


St. Paul's, 


Rome, 


- 38,000 


St. Paul's, 


London, 


31,000 


St. Petronia, 


Bologna, - 


- 26,000 


* * * 


* 


* * 



The United States Pension Bureau is the largest 
brick building in the world, being composed of 
fifteen million, five hundred thousand bricks. 
Cost of building when completed, $900,000. Ex- 
terior dimensions: Length, 400 feet; width, 200 
feet. Interior dimensions of court: Length, 316 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



267 



feet; width, 116 feet; height, 159 feet. Height 
of each roof-supporting column, 89 feet; circum- 
ference of each roof-supporting column, 25 feet, 
and the number of bricks in each column, 100,- 
000. 

Capital. — The state capital at Albany is said to be the 
finest in the United States. 

Cavern. — The Mammoth Cave, of Kentucky, is the 
largest in the world. 

Cemetery. — Probably the largest national cemetery in 
the United States is the Arlington, near Washing- 
ton, D. C. — At this writing (March, 1896) there 
are in round numbers 17,000 interments. * * 
The Vicksburg (Miss.) National Cemetery con- 
tains about 16,600 interments, of whom 12,704 
are unknown. 

Church. — Trinity Church, N. Y., is the tallest in the 

United States, 283 ft. 
Cities. — Damascus, Syria, is the oldest city in the 
world. — It is of unknown antiquity. 

Greater New York City is the largest in the 
United States, population 3,250,000. 

London, the largest city in the world, has a 
population of more than 4,000,000. 

Leadville, Colorado, has the highest altitude of 
any city in the United States, being 10,178 feet 
above the level of the sea. 

St. Augustine, Fla., is the oldest town in the 
United States. — It was founded in 1565. 



268 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Cold. — Hammerfest, Europe, is the coldest city on 
earth. — In summer, the sun can be seen there 
until midnight. 

The coldest inhabited place in the world is 
Verkhoyansk, in Northern Siberia, with a mean 
temperature of less than 3 degrees above zero, 
Fahrenheit, and a winter of 85 degrees below. 

Verkhoyansk is in north latitude 67 degrees, 

on the great Arctic plain, scarcely more than 150 

feet above the level of the sea. 

****** 

The coldest winter the world ever knew, 
according to several chroniclers, occurred during 
the year 1435. The season was not only intensely 
cold, but lasted unusually long. In a large por- 
tion of middle and western Germany the frost 
was so severe during the month of May that 
skaters braved the ice without the least danger, 
and on May 12 sleighs were generally used. On 
St. John's day, June 24, the windows were frozen 
and not a vestige of vegetation was to be seen 
anywhere. Spring was ushered in with the last 

day of June. 

****** 

The coldest year on record in the United States 
was the year 18 16, when frost occurred through- 
out New England and the Middle States every 
month of the year. Ice formed one-half an inch 
thick in May. A furious snow storm visited 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



269 



Massachusetts in June, and ice was formed in 

Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania and New 

Hampshire on the 5th of July. 
College. — Harvard College is the oldest in America. — 

It was founded in 1636, and is situated three miles 

West of Boston. 
Counties. — Texas has the largest number of counties 

of all the states in the Union. — At this writing 

(Apr., 1894) she has 154. 
Days. — The shortest day of the year comes the 21st 

day of December, the longest the 21st day of 

June. 

Denominations, Religious — The Baptist Denomination 
has the largest membership of all Evangelical 
denominations in the United States. It has more 
than 4,000,000 members and 44,000 churches. 
Of this number, there are 1,700,000 colored mem- 
bers, and 13,600 colored churches. 

Depth of Ocean. — The greatest known depth of the 
ocean is midway between the Islands of Tristan 
d'Acunha and the mouth of the Rio de la Plata. — 
The bottom was here reached at a depth of 46,236 
feet, or eight and three-fourths miles. 

Desert. — The Sahara desert, Africa, is the largest in 
the world. 

Diamond. — The largest diamond cutting house in the 
world is the Amsterdam, where they employ 400 
men. — The famous Kahinoor diamond was cut 
there. Cutters make from seven to twelve dol- 



270 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



lars and even fourteen dollars per day. * * The 
diamond is the hardest substance known. 

Digestion- -The hardest known foods to digest are 
fried veal, four and one-half hours, and boiled 
beef suet, five and one-half hours; the easiest di- 
gested are boiled rice, soused (boiled) pigs' feet, 
and soused tripe, each one hour. 

Empire. — The largest empire in the world is that of 
Great Britain, comprising 8,557,658 square miles. 

Fertility. — The most fertile or productive soil in the 
world is that of the valley of the Nile. 

Fire. — The most destructive fire on record is that of 
Chicago, 111., October 8, 9, 187 1. — There was an 
estimated loss of $200,000,000, and 200,000 habi- 
tations and business houses, covering a district of 
more than 1,800 acres. 

Fortification. — Fortress Monroe is the largest single 
fortification in the world. * * The greatest for- 
tress in the world, from a strategical standpoint, 
is the famous stronghold of Gibraltar. 

Flour. — Minneapolis, Minn., produces more flour than 
any other city in the Union. — In the busiest mill- 
ing season, its daily flour product would load a 
train of cars more than a mile and a half in 
length. 

Funeral. — Abraham Lincoln's funeral is said to have 
been the longest in history. — It reached from 
Washington to Springfield, 111., or 1662 miles. 

Gestation. — The periods of gestation in animals are 
longest in the elephant (two years) and shortest 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



271 



in the cat (eight weeks.) With birds, it is long- 
est in the swan (forty- two days) and shortest in 
the canary and pigeon (fourteen days.) 
Gold. — Australia leads the world in the production of 
gold, while the state of California, U. S. A., pro- 
duces more than any other state of the Union. 
* * * 

It is said that the largest nugget of gold ever 
found was taken in 1872 from Hill End, in New 
South Wales. It weighed 640 pounds and was 
worth $148,000. 
Grain. — Chicago is the greatest grain market in the 
world. 

Gun. — The largest mounted gun in the United States 
is the twenty inch Rodman smooth bore, at Fort 
Hamilton, New York harbor. — Extreme length 
243^2 inches, maximum diameter 64 inches. The 
service charge is 200 pounds of powder, and the 
weight of the projectile is 1,000 pounds. 

Heat. — Mecca, Arabia, is the hottest city in the world. 

Inaugural Address. — At this writing, the inaugural 
address of George Washington, second term, is 
the shortest on record, containing only T38 words. 
That of W. H. Harrison is the longest, 8,57.8 
words. 

Internal Reve?iue. — The State of Illinois pays the larg- 
est amount of internal revenue taxes of all states 
in the Union. — In the fiscal year ended June 30, 
1895, she paid $30,604,069.60 in such taxes. 



272 THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 

Lake. — Lake Superior, the largest in the world, is 380 
miles long, and 120 miles wide. 

Library. — The largest library in the world is the Im- 
perial, at Paris, which contains more than 2,500, 
000 volumes. 

Longevity. — Methuselah was the oldest man that ever 
lived, having attained the age of 969 years. * * * 
The whale is the longest lived animal known, fre- 
quently attaining the age of 1000 years. Among 
the quadrupeds the elephant is the longest liver; 
average age, 400 years. The guinea pig and 
the rabbit are the shortest, averaging 7 and 5 
years respectively. * * * The crow, eagle, swan 
and raven are the longest lived birds; they have 
been known to attain the age of 100 years. Of 
the birds, the wren is perhaps the shortest lived. — 
Its average age is 3 years. 

Melting. — Ice melts at the least number of degrees 
above zero, 35; cast iron at the greatest number 
of degrees, 3500. 

Men. — The tallest men in the world are found in Pata- 
gonia, S. A. 

Mint. — The Philadelphia mint is the oldest in the 
United States. 

Monument. — The Washington Monument, at Wash- 
ington, D. C, is the tallest in the United States; 
height 555 feet. 

Mountains. — The Andes are the longest mountain 
range in the world. — They extend from the south- 
ern extremity of South America to the Isthmus of 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



273 



Darien. Indeed, the range can be traced to 
Alaska, thus extending nearly half way around 
the globe, or from pole to pole. * * * The high- 
est mountain in the world is Mt. Everest, one of 
the Himalayas, which is 29,002 feet, or 5^ miles. 
Mt. Sorata, Bolivia, is the highest mountain 
peak in America, being 21,284 f ee t, or 4 miles. * 
Mt. Whitney is the highest peak in the United 
States. 

Northern Exploration. — The greatest distance yet 
reached by any explorer of the Arctic region, was 
that made by I^ockwood, of Greely's party, in 
1884, — 83 degrees and 24 minutes. 

Ocean. — The largest ocean in the world is the Pacific, 
which has an area of 80,000,000 square miles. 
(See Depth of Ocean.) 

Oyster Trade. — Baltimore does the largest oyster trade 
of all cities in the United States. 

Parks. — The largest city park in the world is the City 
Park, of Philadelphia, Penn.; the finest park in 
the United States is Central Park, N. Y. City. 

Political Speeches. — The greatest number of political 
speeches ever made by any man during a presi- 
dential campaign was that of W. J. Bryan, of 
Nebraska, the Democratic candidate in the presi- 
dential contest of 1896, achieving the remarkable 
record of 599 speeches, in less than three months 
time. The greatest number of speeches made in 
any one day was 23. 



274 the composer's friend. 

Population. — Of all the countries in Europe, Belgium is 
the most densely populated. Its area is only 
11,373 square miles, which is less than that of the 
state of Maryland, yet it has a population of over 
6,000,000, and to every square mile there are 
about 540 inhabitants. * * * The United States 
have but 15 persons to the square mile, while Bra- 
zil has but 4. 

Railroads, — The longest railroad in the United States 
is the Union Pacific, 3,460 miles. Illinois has 
the greatesf length of railroad lines, 8,000 miles. 
Pennsylvania has 6,000 miles. 

Rainfall. — Neak Bay, Washington, claims the largest 
annual rainfall in North America, 123 inches; 
Fort Garland has the smallest, 6 inches. 

Rivers. — The Missouri river, to the sea, is the longest 
in the world, measuring 4,125 miles: it is 3,000 
miles to its junction with the Mississippi. The 
Amazon, the largest river in the world, is 3,600 
miles long. 

Sailing Vessels. — Germany has turned out the largest 
sailing vessel in the world, the five-master Potosi, 
owned in Hamburg. It is 426 feet 6 inches long; 
52 feet 5 inches broad, and 32 feet 9 inches deep. 
Its capacity is 6, 150 tons. There were used in its 
construction 5,511,500 pounds of iron. The use 
to which it will be put is that of bringing salt- 
peter from the western coast of South America. 
It can carry 13,227 bags, — as much as would load 
a railway train more than three miles long. A 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



275 



little more than three years since, a five-master, 
approaching the dimensions of the Potosi, was 
built in an English yard for a German firm and 
sailed from an English port on its first voyage. 
What became of it is not known, except that it 
never returned. It disappeared without leaving a 
trace. 
(See Steamships.) 

Salaries. — The largest salaried ofiicer of the United 
States is the President, whose salary, all told, is a 
little over $125,000. * * * The largest sal- 
aried governors are those of New York and Penn- 
sylvania, $10,000; the smallest, those of Michigan, 
Vermont, and Rhode Island, $1,000. 

Sea. — The Mediterranean is the largest sea in the 
world. — It is 2,000 miles long. 

Snakes. — The cobra de capello, of India, and the rattle- 
snake, of America, are the most poisonous snakes 
of the world. * * * The Boa Constrictor is 
the largest snake, often reaching the enormous 
length of 30 or 40 feet. It is able to crush a dog, 
a deer, and even small cattle. — Its bite is not 
poisonous. The only representative in the United 
States of this genus is a small species found in 
Oregon. 

Soldiers. — During the late civil war, New York fur- 
nished the largest number of soldiers of all kinds, 
455,568; Delaware the least, 13,651. Louisiana 
furnished the largest number of colored troops, 
24,052; Texas the least, 47. 



276 the composer's friend. 

Span of Wire. — The longest span of wire in the world 
is used for a telegraph in India over the river 
Kistnah. — It is more than 6,000 feet in length, and 
is 1,200 feet high. 

Steamship. — The new steamer, ' ' Campania, ' ' built for 
the Cunard company, has attained a maximum 
speed of 24 knots, or more than 27 miles an hour. 
This is the greatest speed ever attained by any 
steamship. * * * The fastest time ever made 
by any steamer, across the Atlantic ocean, was 
made by Fuerst Bismarck, of the Hamburg Amer- 
ican line. — It started from New York June 18, '91 
arriving at Hamburg June 25, at 1:10 a. m. Time: 
6 days, 13 hours, 10 minutes, exceeding the Ktru- 
ria of the Cunard line, in '65. * * * The Great 
Eastern was the largest ship in the world, being 
680 feet long, 83 feet broad, 60 feet deep, and 
28,627 tons burden! 
(See Sailing Vessels.) 

Temperature. — The highest average annual tempera- 
ture in the United States is at Tucson, Ariz., 
New Orleans, La., and Jacksonville, Fla., — 69 
the lowest is at St. Paul, Minn., — 42 . 

Theaters. — The largest theater in the world is the new 
Opera House, in Paris, France. — It covers nearly 
3 acres of ground, and contains 428,000 cubic 
feet. * * * Gilmore's, New York City, is the 
largest in the United States. 

Tides. — The highest tides known occur in Bay of 
Fundy, — 50 feet. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



277 



Tower. — Eiffel tower, Paris, is the tallest in the world, 
989 feet. 
(See Monument.) 

Trees. — The largest tree in the United States is found 
in Tulare Co., Cal. — It is 34 feet in diameter, 
and 276 feet high. * * * The shellbark 
hickory is the hardest of our forest trees, and the 
w r hite pine the softest. 

Tunnel— The Mt. St. Gothard tunnel, Italy, on the 
line of railroad between Lucerne and Milan, is 
49, 170 feet long, or 9^ miles, being the longest in 
the world. 

Velocity. — Electricity moves with the greatest velocity, 
288,000 miles per second. * * * The fastest 
time on record made by a railroad train was 436^ 
miles in 407 minutes. — A snail is said to travel at 
about the rate of 1,056 feet per year, or about one 
mile in five years. 

Vitality of Seeds. — Melon, cucumber, and squash seeds 
retain their vitality longest; average length of 
time, 10 years. Onion and parsnip seeds are of 
shortest vitality, average, 1 year. 

Volca?io. — The largest, active volcano in America is 
Popocatapetl — "smoking mountain" — in Mex- 
ico. — It is 17,748 feet above the sea level. 

Waterfalls. — Niagara falls are the highest in the United 
States, 164 feet; the highest in the world is that 
of the Cerosola cascade, Switzerland, 2,400 feet. 

Wealth. — The Vanderbilt family is said to be the rich- 
est in America. W. H. Vanderbilt' s wealth was 



278 THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 

estimated at $98,000,000. * * * The Roths- 
childs, of Europe, are the richest family in the 
world. The Duke of Westminster is probably 
the richest man in the world. Li Hung Chang 
has been rated higher, and Americans in their 
pride claim greater wealth for Mr. Rockefeller, 
but, everything considered, the Duke of Westmin- 
ster's holdings, which are in the nature of real 
estate, will doubtless top those of the Chinaman 
and the American. 

Well. — The deepest well in the world is in Hungary, 
near Buda. 
(See First Things ) 

Telf grams.— A telegram sent from New York to St. 
Louis reaches St. Louis an hour before it is sent. 
Why? 

Tennessee, Constitution of— The state constitution of Tenn- 
essee has a clause in it prohibiting the election of 
ministers to its general assembly. 

Thanksgiving.— Thanksgiving as an institution is trace- 
able to William Bradford, governor of the old Ply- 
mouth colony, of Massachusetts. 

Trade, Earliest Accounts of— Joseph sold for twenty pieces of 
silver; the Ishmaelites trading to Egypt; Homer, 
oxen in payment for Shields. Pecunia. 

Forms of money, or mediums of exchange: 
Carthage, leather money; Sparta, iron money; 
Arabia and Syria, gold and silver. 

Trees, Age of— The age of a tree can be ascertained by 
counting the rings, after it has been cut down. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



279 



Two Eyes of History.— By the "two eyes of history" is 
meant time and place, or chronology and geog- 
raphy. 

Tints Produced by Mixing.— Purple is produced by mixing 
Red and Blue paints and inks. 



Green, - - - - - Blue and Yellow. 

Brown, Red and Black. 

Rose, L,ake and White. 

Chestnut, - Brown and White. 

Chocolate, - Brown and Yellow. 

Pink, - Carmine and White. 

Buff, - - - Yellow Ochre and White. 

Ora?ige, - - Chrome Yellow and Vermillion. 

Indigo, - - Black, Crimson Lake, and Blue. 



Vatican, The— The Vatican, the home of the Pope, has 

442 rooms in it. 
Venice.— The city of Venice has 300 bridges, and sits 

on 26 islands. 

Vermont.— Vermont is the only state which bought itself, 
having paid New York $30,000 for her claims to 
the territory before it could be admitted. 

Vetoes.— President Cleveland vetoed 111 bills in 8 
months, while 21 presidents vetoed 106 in 95 
years. 

Wall Street, N. Y.— Wall street is so-called from the fact, 
that in the early days of New Amsterdam the set- 
tlers built a stone wall across the island for a 
defense against the Indians. — Wall Street occu- 
pies nearly the same place as this. 



28o 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



War of the Roses.— A great civil war waged during the 
reigns of Henry VI and Edward IV, of England, 
between the Lancastrians, wearing red roses as a 
badge, and the Yorkists, wearing white ones. 

Washington, Geo.— Gen. Washington was never wounded 
in battle; though, upon one occasion, he was fired 
at 15 times by an Indian. 

Weasel, The- The weasel, although it sleeps with its 
eyes wide open, (being unable to shut them) may 
be caught while asleep and carried some distance 
before it awakes. It is the only animal that 
sleeps with its eyes open. 

Wedding Anniversaries. — 

At end of 1st year comes the Cotton Wedding. 



2nd " 


< < 


Paper 


3rd " 


< < 


Leather 


5th " 


• < 


Wooden 


7th " 


< < 


Woolen 


10th " 


< < 


Tin 


12th " 


1 1 Silk and Fine Linen 


15th " 


< < 


Crystal 


20th " 


< < 


China 


25th " 


< < 


Silver 


30th " 


< < 


Pearl 


40th ' ' 


< < 


Ruby 


50th " 


< < 


Golden 


75th " 




Diamond 



Wells, To Find Objects In— By holding a mirror at a certain 
angle, the reflection of sunlight may be thrown to 
the bottom of a well, which will penetrate the 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 28 1 

water, and reveal any object on the well's bot- 
tom. 

West Point Cadets.— Cadets graduating from West Point 
must serve for a term of eight years in the regular 
army, unless sooner discharged. 

Whiskey Insurrection —The "Whiskey Insurrection " was 
a disturbance that rose in Western Pennsylvania 
in 1794, caused by the attempt to collect taxes on 
distilled spirits. 

Wild Cat Money.— By 1 ' Wild Cat Money ' ' is meant money 
that is issued by banks and not redeemed. 

Worm Farm.— A worm farm is one of the features in a 
store E. E. Achert runs at 12 15 Seventeenth 
street, Denver. Mr. Achert and his wife have 
been in the worm-raising industry in Denver for 
over twenty years. It is the only institution of 
its kind in the country. 

The worms are chiefly bred to furnish food for 
mocking birds, and about 300 Denver people who 
own feathered mimics of this variety are regular 
customers of the Achert farm. All soft- billed 
birds — nightingales, thrushes, blackbirds, etc. — 
eat the kind of worms the Acherts raise, but there 
are not many of these kinds in Denver, so the 
Achert farm provides delicacies almost solely and 
entirely for the mocking bird tribe. 

Although Mr, and Mrs. Achert call their worm 
plant a farm, there is little of the agricultural 
about it. It looks more like a chiffonier than a 
ranch. Standing in the middle of the little shop 



282 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



is a large wooden contrivance, fitted out with four 
drawers. Each drawer is filled to the brim with a 
living, moving mass. On the top of each wrig- 
gling heap is a heavy linen cloth, eaten through 
here and there into holes. Out of nearly every 
hole just now sticks the brown head of a wrig- 
gling meal worm. 

From the worms brought here from abroad by 
Mrs. Achert, numerous millions have since been 
raised. The staple diet of the beasts consists of 
beer, woolen blankets, and meal bran. 

— Denver Republican. 
Wrigglers ie Water.— As wrigglers are the larvae of the 
mosquito, the female mosquito may be prevented 
from laying her eggs on the surface of a barrel of 
standing water by sprinkling a little kerosene in 
the water. 

Y River.— The " Y " river, an important stream flowing 
through Amsterdam, is the only stream, to our 
knowledge, whose name is spelled by a single 
letter. 

Young of Birds and Animals, Names of— The young of the cow 
is called a calf; of the horse, a colt; of the sheep, a 
lamb; of the goat, a kid; of the cat, a kitten; of 
the dog, a pup or puppy; of the deer, a fawn; of 
the tiger, a kitten; of the fox, a cub; of the bear, 
a cub; of the pigeon, a squab; of the fish, a min- 
now; of the goose, a gosli?ig; of the duck, a duck- 
ling; of the eagle, an eaglet; of the owl, an owlet; 
of the lion, a kitten; of the wolf, a puppy. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



SECTION V. 
poems* 

SIGNS OF A RAINSTORM. 

The clouds are gath'ring thick and fast; 

The lark is soaring high: 
The thunder roars: the lightning blast 

Flits fast across the sky. 

The Eastern hills are decked with light; 

Dark clouds obscure the West; 
The North and South alike unite 

In Jupiter's behest. 

The winds are hushed; the waters still; 

The lowing herd comes home, 
The birds soon cease their songs of love, 

Submissive to the storm. 

The silv'ry whiteness 'neath the clouds 
Still lengthens and expands, 

The winds increase; the rain descends, 
Obed'nt to commands. 

The thirsty kine now show their joy; 

The fields look glad and gay, 
And nod and beck in thankfulness, 

For the delightful spray. 

'Tis o'er; the birds return to sing 
Their songs of thanks and love, 

For His rememb' ranee and His care, 
Who watches from above. 



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THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



All praise be giv'n to Him who sends 
The rainstorm, or the shine, 

And do not fret at cloud, or sky, 
But think it all divine. 



CHRISTMAS. 

Ye natal day, upon whose gift 

The world received her greatest boon, 

We hail thy coming, greet thy trust, 
Thy cause, the cause of all mankind; 

Of all events, and noted days, 

Thou art the one of greatest praise. 

On Judah's plain that 'ventful night, 
When all the wise their vigils kept, 

When Bethl'em's star illumed their sight 
And Herod, too, nor rest nor slept, 

Down to Jerusalem they came, 

To learn of them their Savior's name. 

The scribes and priests by homage led, 
Men of the East, and men discreet, 
" Where is the King of Jews? " they said, 
" We come to worship at His feet." 
They poured their gifts and treasures down 
For Him who'd honor Israel's crown. 

When each had paid his pilgrim's dues, 
And turned him thence his homeward way, 

Warned not to tell his king the news 
Of babe and mother, or they lay, 

An angel unto Joseph spake, 

And bade him them to Egypt take. 

Egyptian darkness filled the realm, 
And all above was still and cold, 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 

They must escape the wrath of him, 

Of whom the angel had foretold. 
On fleetest foot they sped their way, 
Eager to shun th' approach of day. 

On Egypt's soil they safely stood, 
Till Herod's death relieved their will, 

And now in Galilee they would 
The prophet's augury fulfill. 

For it is written, as we've seen, 

He shall be called a Nazarene. ' ' 

Thus ends the tale in honor told, 

Which gives to earth redemption's cause, 

Who would this benediction hold, 
Must first obey th' eternal laws, 

Forever do we hear the cry, 

Jesus of Naz'reth pasS"eth by." 

Sweet epoch of creation's life, 

Sweet moment of eternal bliss, 
Exhaustless be our praise, and rife 

The blessings which His promise gives. 
His birth, in man, new hope allured, 
His death, to man, that hope assured. 



DENNIS AND SNOW. 

Two pals I know, Dennis and Snow, 

Who always pull together; 
True friends are they (as night and day,) 

And warm as Summer weather. 

In cold or hot, it matters not, 

If all the world be stolid, 
Let come what will of good or ill, 

These cronies still are solid. 



286 



the; composer's friend. 



If one should yet in trouble get, 
Our Damon would relieve him; 

And by no art of trick or start, 
Would Pythias deceive him. 

See Dennis dance, and laugh and prance 
When Snow doth play the riddle; 

Ask you me why he is so spry ? 
The answer is no riddle. 

If Dennis poke a sensesless joke, 
'Twill make Snow fairly frantic; 

To see him chin and gape and grin, 
You'd think him sycophantic. 

If Snow doth say a thing is gray, 
Quoth Dennis, " I vow 'tis true " 

Tho' to his mind, 'tis not the kind, 
But of cerulean blue. 

With hand in hand this duad band, 

On many jaunts go larking; 
A happ'er pair was never there 

In Ivondon town went sparking. 

For servile mein and faithful vein, 

Old Friday was not in it; 
For, give him eight and call it straight, 

These chummies two could win it. 

One afternoon in month of June, 
These partners went asniping; 

In Faithless Glen, low in the fen, 
Was heard the birds' keen piping. 

Now, 'twas agreed that 'mongst the reed, 
Where stalked the finest birding, 

There, bag in hand, should Dennis stand, 
While Snow would do the herding. 



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287 



Once on the rack, with open sack, 

Poor Dennis longed and waited, 
But Snow had fled and gone to bed 

In guilty glee elated. 

Let them who read, attend, take heed 

To this my simple moral: 
And trust him naught, with whom of salt 

You have not eat a bushel.* 

*Ne?nini fidas, nisi cum quo prius modium salis 
absumpseris. (Lat.) Trust no man till you have 
eaten a bushel of salt with him. 



UNREQUITED LOVE. 

How sad, how drear the days have pass'd, 
Since thou, thy presence here hast shown; 

All earth her gladsome charms hath lost, 
So dull the nights, so dark and lone. 

Turn where I will, on pleasure bent, 
For peace of mind and calm resolve, 

All nature has one answer lent 

Of troubled dreams, and scorned love. 

It was not ever thus with me: 

My brighter star aloft has shone; — 

My heart was glad, and light, and free, 
And troubled nights were things unknown. 

'Twas then it was thy heart was true, 
And fond devotion marked thy mein; 

No other could thy love besue, 

No other could thy thoughts be wean. 



288 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



But, Ah! how feeble, fickle, faint, 

The love of man when once possess' d ! 

How fleeting is that love so quaint, 
When fairer maids for it contest! 

'Twas on a placid April eve, 

When happy warblers fringed the boughs, 
That last did I thy hand receive, 

And last were heard thy loving vows. 

Thy thoughts, no more, rest on my name, 
Another, now, thy heart doth rule; 

And love which I was wont to claim 
Has played the truant; — I the fool. 

& sjc sfc % s£ 

Come back, my darling; Oh! come back, 
Thy truant sins I will condone; 

Life will not aught of pleasure lack, 
If thee, again, I claim my own. 

Come back, my darling, come thou must, 
And bless again a heart thine own; 

All earth her gladsome charms hath lost, 
So dull the night, so dark and lone. 



DEDICATORY POEM. 

Read at Laying of the Corner Stone of the 2nd 
Baptist Church, Washington, D. C, Oct. 8th, 1894. 

Hail, sacred mound, whose lofty head 
In glory soon shall pierce the sky; 

Whose massive pillars, be it said, 
Are tokens of long memory. 

Hail, church of God, about whose shrine 
The countless thousands will unite; 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 

Hail to His name, whose hand divine 
Shall plant this stone for God and right. 

O, house of hope, of faith, of love, 
Of consecration, stern and true, 

In solemn rev'renee here will move 
The saints of God, Gentile and Jew! 

As generations come and go, 

Thy spires will point the upward way 
To him who would thy purpose know, 

Respect thy law, and love thy day. 

When unborn ages press this scene, 
And view the stone which here is laid, 

'Twill tell them, as in mem'ry green, 
Thy age, thy name, in marble made. 

Far, far from this unhonored plain 

Will be these feet which stand thee round. 

In other wards will they be lain; 
On other plains will they be found. 

But thou, like lighthouse, tall and firm, 
To guide this carnal ship of state 

From rock, and reef, and bar, and storm, 
Will stand thro' years of will and fate. 

O, heav'nly Builder of mankind, 
The architect of beast and bird, 

Though here temptation's storms we find, 
We'll seek protection in thy word! 

As was thy life in word and deed, 
So shape the acts of sinful men, 

That they may prove no more a reed, 
Which shall be shaken by the wind. 



293 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



And in the end it ours may be 

To share the plaudits of thy grace, 

Where, in eternal glory, we 

Shall view the splendor of thy face. 



THANK GOD FOR WINTER. 

When blow the winds of icy North, 

And field and wood are brown and sear; 

When comes December's chilly breath, 
And meadow green forsakes the year, 
Thank God for winter. 

When leaf and lark no more are seen, 
And woodland song no more is heard; 

When gray and brown displace the green 
And song of sleigh takes place of bird, 
Thank God for winter. 

When burns the fire in embers bright, 
To speed the pace of drowsy air; 

When hill and dale with daisy white, 
No more are seen in raiment fair, 
Thank God for winter. 

Season of snow, of sleet, of death, 
When firefly hides him in the wall ; 

When biting winds apply their breath, 
And lark hears not the linnet's call, 
Thank God for winter. 

'Tis then are seen the skate and sled, 
And sleigh bells ring their merry chime, 

The sun burns not the plowman's head; 
Then thank thy God for winter time, 
Thank God for winter. 



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29I 



Thank God for winter; 'tis His send, 

Though dull the cause, 'tis bright the end; 

All seasons in their turn He'll make, 
That good may follow in their wake, 
Thank God for winter. 



CHRISTMAS BEIvLS. 

Merrily peal the Christmas bells, 

Off to the woods we go; 
The chestnut burs and sturdy firs 

Yield to the heaping snow! 

L,ist to the chiming Christmas bells, 

As ring their songs of glee ! 
See Tom and Ned with skate and sled; — 

Off to the hills they flee! 

Away to the nutting fields we glide, 
O'er crisp and sparkling earth; 

While Christmas bells from out the dells, 
Peal forth their chimes of mirth. 

How sweetly chime the Christmas bells, 
As we skim our journey o'er: 

Off to the fields, the chestnut yields 
Its wealth of treasured store. 

With horn and sleigh and streamers gay, 
We'll roam the woodland through: 

While city jade and mansioned maid, 
Their hearths and houses woo. 

See how the frost has cracked the burrs! 

The bough submits and sways; 
The sweetened nuts from out their huts 

Peep forth in bidding gaze. 



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THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



We'll dare the wind and brave the storm, 
'Neath a dark and sombre sky; 

Though 'cross the hills and frozen rills, 
The straggling snownakes fly! 

Out on the wings of the morning breeze, 

Come merrily o'er the lea 
The yuletide chimes of distant rhymes, 

With softening melody. 

Then welcome, welcome, Christmas bells, 

Peal out the chimes of glee: 
Fill all the earth with song and mirth, 

Unto eternity. 



BABY BYE. 
(a ujixaby.) 
Tune: Say " Au Revoir," but not " Good-By 

Sweet baby bye, 

Now ope your eye, 
Come, catch thy breath and ne'er say " die; 
A long and happy day be thine, 
May light along thy pathway shine. 

Oh, baby bye, 

Wee Tommie Rye, 
Our world of beauty now descry; 
This orb of ours where thou must stand, 
Is not all ease, — a flower land. 

You, baby bye, 

Now tell me why 
It is you look so strange, so shy ? 
Perhaps some guardian angel good 
Hath shown thee earth's true hardihood. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Come, baby bye, 

Stand up and try 
To brave life's odds, and them defy: — 
A life of storms, of empty glare, 
A world of trouble and of care. 

Now, baby bye, 

Why fret and fry ? 
Just close thy mouth and peaceful lie; 
Thy ten-pounds naught thee will avail, 
Lest thy good nature do prevail. 

See, baby bye, 

Thy mamma's nigh. 
Thy blue eyes close and breathe a sigh; 
No more be heard thy squeak and squall, 
But be a loving, little Paul. 

Respectfully dedicated to little Paul Rye, 
of Mr. Tom. C. Rye. 



A PICTURE. 

They were seated by the window, 
'Neath curtained booths above, 

Telling their tales of sorrow, 
Of unrequited love. 

Each thought of days of pleasure, 

(As only lovers can,) 
Of time when love was tender, — 

Of faithlessness of man. 

They say it was romantic, 
The how these lovers wooed; 

That childish love so frantic, 
Parental heed withstood. 



294 



the composer's friend. 



'Twas then in early spring-time, 
When vi'lets in their bloom, 

And orange blossoms fragrant, 
Poured forth their rich perfume. 

But, Ah! that cruel laddie, 
With flirtish, mean intent, 

Nor loved that trusting lassie, 
Nor matrimony meant. 

Mark well parental warning; 

Its fond monitions heed: 
In days of anxious yearning, 

Thou, its advice may need. 

Cling not to empty graces, 
L,et dudish freaks go by; 

'Tis said that foreign* faces, 
May to thee boldly lie. 



* A beau mentir qui vient de loin (Fr). He may 
lie boldly who comes from afar. 



ODE TO THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT. 

Sing sweetly thou of mem'ry great, 

Lift high thy vaulted head; 
Tell all the earth who pass thy gate, 

Of thy distinguished dead. 

In silent eloquence shalt thou 

In thund'rous voice proclaim 
To unborn ages who would know 

Thy hero's honored name. 

Thou granite pile, in thee is taught 
The patr'ots lesson true. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



295 



Aspiring youth likewise may find 
A model to their view. 

As e'en thy spiral whiteness stands 

In grand supremacy 
O'er Maryland and other lands, 

Thy hero's fame shall be. 

Though washed by 'Tomac's dashing waves, 

Unmoved by flood or flame, 
Long may thou stand to mock the winds, 

And mark the way to fame. 

No lettered page could e'er fulfill 

A mission wholly thine; 
No kingly pow'r can stay their will 

Who worship at thy shrine. 

Best boon to fame thy tribute grand; 

To noble deeds the best: 
'Gainst perfidy long mayst thou stand 

An eloquent protest. 

And when eternity has cast 

Thy remnants o'er the sward, 
Honor shall claim thee to the last, 

As her own rich reward. 



" HE IS DEAD." 

(Respectfully dedicated to the memory of the late 
Honorable Frederick Douglass.) 

'Twas early night, and darkness gently crept 
O'er Anacostia Heights in silent tread; 

When scarce the cock with folded wing had slept, 
Or owlet dared to leave its oaken bed. 



296 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



And thus it was the village calm was stirr'd, 
And mournful gloom on ev'ry face was read; 

From ev'ry lip a word of praise was heard, 

When told in whispered accents, " He is dead." 

He's dead. Dead not to fame and good esteem, 
Nor to the manner of a. well-spent life; — 

Dead to the world. His sainted soul is freed 
From earthly care, and from its petty strife. 

The dial hand had stolen close to sev'n, 

When reaper Death appeared to claim his own; 

The winged spirit took its flight to heav'n, 
To reap the fruit which it on earth had sown. 

Glad climax of a grand career was his, 
Which many envy, few do strive to gain; 

Though Douglass won, 'twas ever his to live, 
That others, too, this honor might obtain. 

In freedom's cause his mighty prowess won; 

He filled a space no other could supply; 
In church or state, whatever he has done, 

Made plain the path that heroes choose to die. 

Come, read his life, scan well its pages fair, 
Ambitious youth of some far future age, 

The secret's told; forsooth you'll find it there, 
Exemplified by Anacostia's sage. 

Tho' all that's earthly shall return to earth, 

And marble shafts shall speak his sainted name; 

Tho' Mount Hope shall receive his mortal worth, 
His life, his deeds, bespeak immortal fame. 

Touch light the ashes; let no rugged hand 
Disturb their sacred mass, nor envy steal 

A laurel which has been so nobly gain'd; 
The soul has entered on eternal weal. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 

FRAGMENT. 

Sweet Elodie, own up to me; 

Be fair, and frank, and full, and free 
The truth you should no more deny, 

Eest you yourself should stultify. 

Dear Elodie, now come to me, 

Unlock your heart, nor stubborn be; 

Contrariwise and otherwise 

Will never lift you to the skies. 

Now, Elodie, when this you see, 
Forget yourself and think of me; 

To windward all your doubts be cast, 
And, trusting, love me to the last. 



ODE TO A DEAD HORSE.* 

All hail, thou fallen charger bold, 

With dark and glassy eye; 
In consecration may we hold 

The ground where thou must lie. 

Well hast thou served thy master's will; 

No faithless service knew, 
A sine qua non of the mill, 

The farmer's mascot true. 

Hail, prostrate courser, great thy days, 

Tho' all is ended now; 
Knight of the plow, the car, the chaise, 

A stiffened hero thou. 



*See Dead Horse, page 223. 



29S 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



The battle's fierce and deathly deal 

For thee no terror gave; 
Full bared thou rushed mid lead and steel, 

Nor feared a grassy grave. 

With steaming nostril, fi'ry eye, 

Oft hast thy footstep trod 
Yon furrowed hillside, where, for aye, 

Shall wave the golden rod. 

Those fi'ry eyes, so sternly set, 

A fi'ry coldness tell; 
Those steaming nostrils wide, shall hence 

No more the battle smell. 

All praise be giv'n thy useful age, 
And thrice " well done " thy name; 

On mem'ry's green, reflective page, 
Thou' It have an honest claim. 

Let w T arriors seek their fame in blood, 
And chieftains lead their clan; 

'Tis here we find a record good, 
Of stainless faith to man. 

So runs thy story. — Mark thy fate: 

Thy useful errand done, 
Forgotten are the plaudits great, 

Thy faithful service won. 

The boneyard be thy resting place, 
Where ruthless feet shall tread, 

And vultures vile, with calm grimace, 
Disturb thy lonely bed. 

No marble pile shall rear its head, 

No fun'ral note of song, 
No eulogistic lines are read, 

No quiet, anxious throng. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



299 



Sleep on, thou servant of mankind, 

Thou soulless seraph, sleep; 
No trumpet blasts for thee shall sound, 

To wake thy slumber deep. 

SONG OF THE NEW WOMAN; OR HOW IT 
WOULD HAPPEN. 
(With apologies to Macaulay.) 

Awake, arise, the day has come, 

For bicycles and bloomers; 
We'll change the laws, reform the home, 

And rid us of their humors. 

Close, close the house; break, break the broom, 

Give up your crocks and cradles; 
And throng the polls to seal the doom 

Of dish-pans, spoons, and ladles. 

Away with all your ancient men, 

With imbecile opinions; 
No longer shall their dotard ken 

Rule o'er our new dominions. 

Hail, glorious hour, when fair Reform 

Shall bless our starving nation; 
And Belva * gets commands to form 

A new administration. 

Ellen shall sit enthroned where sat 

Your Sherman and your Peffer, 
And Susan f show her broad-brimmed hat, 

In the nation's rich 'xchequer. 



*Belva Lock wood. **J. Ellen Fostor. f Su- 
san B. Anthony. 



3oo 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



No petticoat, or Seymour * basque, 
Shall daunt our will and notion; 

The right to vote is all we ask — 
The rest shall be our portion. 

The new woman now to the fore, 
With ballot, bike, and bloomer; 

Distress shall curse our land no more 
War shall be more than rumor. 

No avaricious foe would dare 

Invade our sacred border; 
The musket shall our right declare, 

And guard our sov' reign order. 
We'll nail the Monroe doctrine high, — 

No foreign methods sickly; 
Old Britain's bluster we defy — 

A mouse! John, run here quickly! ! 



THE SECRET. 
Within my soul, I know full well, 

There is a secret broad, and deep; 
Ask you its name ? I cannot tell, 

'Twould make me shudder, mourn and weep. 
But this I'll tell, don't ask me more; 

For 'twould but make me still more sad, — 
Its name is sin, black, old and sore: 

Who could but be all else 'cept glad? 
I feel it now: it burns my breast, 

It fills my heart, it haunts my mind, 
Invades my sleep: I cannot rest, — 

Which way to go I cannot find. 
I seek the closet, roam the town, 

I hide me 'neath the quilted bed; 



*See more. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



Like Banquo's ghost it will not down, 
Or Shy lock, will not be misled. 

There is a book beneath whose lids, 
A legend tells me, rest is found; 

Unfolds the secret, and forbids 
Its rueful power to confound. 

'Tis there I'll go, and then confess, 
Forget my ways, and them forsake; 

For He will cheer and own and bless, 
Who in belief His promise take. 



A DECEMBER GAEE. 

Wild were the western winds, 

And low the snow-charged ether hung; 

No feathered warbler from his covert dim 
Vouchsafed a note which yester eve he sung. 

All day the low' ring clouds 

Their threat 'ning pall have hung o'er head; 
With ever-shifting, ever- dark 'ning mass 

They speak the solemn emblem of the dead. 

Hark! thro' yon drooping elm, 

Whose ghostly arms now lash the ground, 
Discordant notes of bleak, December winds 

Come forth in merry and refreshing sound. 

Stung by the biting blast, 

Which o'er the earth its fury spreads, 
The halting herd stand hard beneath the eaves; 

The shiv'ring swine beseek their leafy beds. 



302 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



E'en man his shelter seeks, — 

His 'customed paths are sad and lone; 
Naught fills the void where once his footstep fell, 

Save drifting snow, and odds by stormwind strewn. 

God bless the poor, on whom 

The sun of fortune ne'er did shine; 
Whose scanty board no reassurance gives, 

Whose humble home contains no golden shrine. 

Sad were their lot and drear — 

Dull penury had mark'd their names; 
No timbrel note gave forth its voice to cheer, 

Nor blazing hearthstone warm'd their sluggish 
frames. 



REVERIES OF CHILDHOOD. 

In the silence of my musings, 

On the joys of other days; 
When my life was full of sunshine, 

With its bright, refulgent rays; 
When a mother oft caressed me, 

And a sister's presence cheered, 
Not a pleasure more hath blest me, 

Than the joys which thus were shared! 

How the hours were filled with laughter, 

And the days went flitting by! 
Light of heart, I scarce believed me 

That their bliss so soon would die. 
How the mirth of boyhood's nature, 

Buoyed my youthful heart apace! 
Not a care despoiled its calmness, 

Not a cloud its sky defaced. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 

I can see the district school-house, 

In my mental vision cast; 
As it stood full near the crossroads, 

In the days that long have passed. — 
Nude of fence, and grass retreating 

From its well- trod playground near, 
There, within, a rustic tutor 

Plied his calling, year by year. 

'Neath the hillside, brightly flowing, 

Shaded by a gen'rous oak, 
Was the spring, where oft in summer, 

Gathered all the thirsty folk. 
And beyond it, cloverladen, 

Spread the meadow, vast and green, 
On whose pure, sweet-scented bosom 

Could the motley herd be seen. 

Oh, thou happy days of childhood, 

With thy bright, refreshing scenes, 
With thy ramblings 'mid the wild wood, 

And thy rompings on the green! 
How I miss thee, sadly miss thee, 

With thy wooings and thy charms, 
Would that I again could kiss thee, 

And enfold thee in my arms! 

Oh, the days of youthful ardor, 

Oh, the hours of boyish bliss, 
Oh, the moments of contentment 

Manhood's day doth sadly miss! 
Oh, the blissful days of childhood, 

When the earth was young to me! 
Oh, the mirthful days of childhood, 

Thee no more I e'er shall see! 



the; composer's friend. 

With what freshness of remembrance, 

Those old scenes come back to me, 
With their ever charming graces, 

And their odd simplicity! 
Tho' 'twere twenty years I left them, 

Tho' on other sights I've gazed, 
None there are more dear to mem'ry, 

Than are those of childhood's days. 

But time has changed those blest conditions 

Fate has drawn upon the year; 
With the passing of the seasons, 

Passed also those pleasures dear. — 
Late upon a chill September, 

When the leaves began to fall, 
That fond mother, I remember, 

Was the first to hear the call. 

Next a sister's gentle spirit 

To its summons made reply; 
And it, too, in glory reigneth, 

In the home beyond the sky. 
One by one my hopes have perished, 

Till my soul now stands aghast; 
Dearest idols life has cherished, 

All, like yesterday, have passed! 

In a distant land and hamlet, 

Standing near the River's edge, 
Waits a father old, decrepit, 

To report his sacred pledge. 
Hush, my spirit, cease repining, 

'Tis a verdict, old and true: 
Life is false and death is certain — 

A nurse's tale, a tax that's due. 



THE COMPOSER'S FRIEND. 



When I turn me to those moments, 

Looking backward through the mist, 
How their beauty fades my vision, 

How my soul their charms resist ! 
Scorn the past, the future only 

Holds thy fate, thy hope inspires; 
Look not doubtfully upon it: 

Him who wins, the world admires. 

Gird thee, then, my drooping spirit, 

Soon thy errand, too, shall end; 
Though thy sun to-day may glisten, 

May to-morrow's it transcend. 
When I've finished here my mission, 

Let me glide in peaceful vein 
Into sweeter fields elysian, 

Where eternal pleasures reign. 



The Leading Music House at the National Capital. 

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